The Trump administration is reportedly mulling drone strikes on drug cartels in Mexico to prevent the flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs into the United States across the southern border.
Current and former military, law enforcement, and intelligence officials told NBC News that the proposed strikes are aimed to decimating the cartels’ ability to continue their operations at the border.
Discussions among White House, Defense Department and intelligence officials, which are still at an early stage, have included possible drone strikes against cartel figures and their logistical networks in Mexico with the cooperation of Mexico’s government, the sources said.
Still, the administration has made no final decision and reached no definitive agreement about countering the cartels. And unilateral covert action, without Mexico’s consent, has not been ruled out and could be an option of last resort, the sources said. It is unclear whether American officials have floated the possibility of drone strikes to the Mexican government.
If Mexico and the United States proceed together with drone strikes or other action, it would not be the first time they have launched a joint effort to take on the cartels, nor would it be the first time that American military and intelligence worked in concert with Mexico’s law enforcement and army.
But what the Trump administration is contemplating could be unprecedented both in the number of U.S. personnel involved and in the use of American unmanned aircraft to bomb cartel personnel and assets.
One of the sources told NBC News that the administration is “looking to build a target deck” which could include individual cartel operatives, vehicles, warehouses, and other components of the cartels’ infrastructure.
During the 2024 presidential campaign, President Donald Trump publicly expressed support for using military force against the cartels. In one instance, he said he would “makes appropriate use of Special Forces, cyber warfare and other overt and covert actions to inflict maximum damage on cartel leadership, infrastructure and operations.”
While speaking to a joint session of Congress in March, Trump said, “The cartels are waging war on America, and it’s time for America to wage war on the cartels.”
To stop the deadly drugs that are poisoning our people, I will deploy the U.S. Navy to impose a full fentanyl blockade on the waters of our region.…The drug cartels are waging war on America, and we will destroy those cartels! pic.twitter.com/A0ZgqJxvH1
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 20, 2024
The CIA has already been flying surveillance drones over Mexico with the permission of the nation’s government, The Los Angeles Times reported in February.
No administration in modern times has taken such a militaristic approach to Mexico, a U.S. ally that Trump blames for producing the fentanyl that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. His stance upends recent U.S. policy, which emphasized beefing up the rule of law in Mexico, and stands at odds with Mexico’s security strategy, which has veered away from the sort of fierce cartel confrontations that drove record levels of bloodshed.
This came just after Trump labeled drug cartels as a terrorist group.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that she will propose a constitutional reform aimed at protecting her nation’s sovereignty — a move that comes amid growing fears of a U.S. incursion that many believe would only spark more violence.
Sheinbaum stressed that “The Mexican people under no circumstances will accept interventions, meddling or whatever other act from abroad that would be harmful to the integrity, independence and sovereignty of the nation.”
Todd Zimmerman, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) special agent in Mexico City said during an interview that cartel members are “worried because they know the might and strength of the U.S. military.”
They know that at any time, they could be anywhere — if it comes to that, if it comes to that — they could be in a car, they could be in a house, and they could be vaporized. They’ve seen it in the Afghan and Iraq wars. So they know the potential that’s out there.
Zimmerman said the hope is that the cartels will “step back away from fentanyl, and they’ll just go back to what they’ve always done, which is cocaine and methamphetamine and a little bit of heroin.”
However, not everyone is convinced that U.S. military action will stop the cartels from continuing to smuggle fentanyl over the southern border. Elisabeth Malkin, deputy program director for Latin America at the International Crisis Group, told The Times that “A whole constellation of actions are needed: to pursue proper investigations, to create cases that hold up in court, to dismantle whole networks rather than just going after the big drug kingpin, who is paraded before the cameras.”
Mike Vigil, former director of the DEA’s international operations, said the idea is “all for show” and that “It’s not going to have an impact.”
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