The Trump administration is considering launching drone strikes on drug cartels in Mexico as part of an ambitious effort to combat criminal gangs trafficking narcotics across the southern border, according to six current and former U.S. military, law enforcement and intelligence officials with knowledge of the matter.
Discussions among White House, Defence 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.
Hundreds of pounds of fentanyl and meth seized near Ensenada arrive at the attorney general’s office in Tijuana, Mexico, on Oct. 18, 2022.
Administration officials and nominees have repeatedly refused to rule out drone strikes in public statements.
The U.S. military and the CIA have dramatically stepped up surveillance flights over Mexico to collect intelligence in advance of what is likely to be a major campaign against the cartels, which the White House has labeled a threat to national security, the six sources said.
The flights are being carried out with Mexico’s approval, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said.
“They’re looking to build a target deck,” one of the former officials, who is familiar with the administration’s plans, said of the surveillance flights. The potential target list most likely could include cartel operatives, vehicles, warehouses and other parts of the gangs’ network, the sources said.
The White House National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment.
Sheinbaum addresses question of U.S. drone strikes at a news conference.
“We reject any form of intervention or interference. That’s been very clear, Mexico coordinates and collaborates, but does not subordinate itself. There is no interference, nor will there be,” she said, according to a translation provided by the Mexican Embassy to the United States.
“While this idea hasn’t been formally proposed, we’ve made it clear that it wouldn’t address the root of the issue. What truly works is ongoing attention to root causes, arrests driven by intelligence and investigation, coordination, and zero tolerance for impunity. We categorically reject any such actions, and we don’t believe they will happen. There is a strong, ongoing dialogue on security and many other matters.”
The administration has already been shifting military, intelligence and law enforcement resources toward combating the cartels, current and former officials said.
President Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, refused to rule out unilateral U.S. military action inside Mexico.
Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth reportedly warned Mexican officials in private about possible unilateral U.S. action. Both have said variations of “all cards are on the table” when it comes to tackling the cartels.
According to a memoir by Mark Esper, who was defense secretary during Trump’s first term, Trump asked him in 2020 whether the military could fire missiles into Mexico to destroy drug labs and then deny the United States had conducted the strike. Trump and his aides have rejected Esper’s account as false.
The administration hopes to coordinate any action against the cartels with Mexico’s military and law enforcement agencies, the six sources said. They also said most administration officials see unilateral military action as a last resort that could cause a rupture with Mexico and jeopardize vital cooperation on immigration.
Staging a military attack on the cartels in Mexico without the government’s consent would arguably violate international law, though both Democratic and Republican administrations have argued that the United States has a right to defend itself from threats within a country that has lost control of its own security.
Advocates of using drones believe that if enough military pressure is placed on the cartels, they will decide that the cost is not worth the money they can make from fentanyl.
But some experts and former U.S. officials who worked on counternarcotics are skeptical, arguing that drone strikes could prove to be merely symbolic or, worse, backfire politically for Mexican leaders and jeopardize further cooperation.
