The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is flying MQ-9 Reaper drones over Mexico as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to revamp the war against transnational drug cartels.
CNN reported that the move comes as the administration has deployed significant resources to the southern border to stop illegal aliens and drugs from pouring into the United States at the unprecedented rate experienced during the Biden administration.
The unarmed drones are currently only conducting spy missions against the cartels. The CIA can arm the drones and use them against foreign enemies, which it has often done when fighting Islamic terrorists in the Middle East and Africa.
The administration is treating the cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO), a designation that it has not yet formally made but likely will in the coming weeks, which could lay the groundwork for using the drones to kill top cartel leaders and destroy manufacturing sites.
The CIA said in a statement that “countering drug cartels in Mexico and regionally is a priority for CIA as a part of the Trump Administration’s broader efforts to end the grave threat from narco-trafficking. Director [John] Ratcliffe is determined to put CIA’s unique expertise to work against this multifaceted challenge.”
Mexican officials, powerless to counter the vastly larger and more powerful U.S. government, have downplayed the CIA drones flying over Mexico, claiming that they do “not violate national airspace,” according to Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum did not resist the notion of drones flying over Mexican airspace to fight the cartels.
“The important thing here, I think, in the declaration, which is what we have always proposed, is that they share information with the Government of Mexico,” she said.
Trump’s top goals for the agency revolve around trade wars, undermining communist China, and destroying the drug cartels.
The president was asked the day after he was sworn into office if he would consider “sending U.S. special forces into Mexico” to take out the cartels.
“Could happen,” Trump said with a large grin on his face. “Stranger things have happened.”
Related: Senate Confirms John Ratcliffe As Trump’s CIA Director
