The Trump administration evaluates raid with drones against signs in Mexico. Unilateral operations, diplomatic tensions and crisis of Fenanyl in the center of the debate
The administration of the President Donald Trump It is evaluating the possibility of launching attacks with drones against drug signs in Mexico, as part of a more aggressive strategy to counteract drug trafficking towards the United States. This was revealed by the NBC, which cites six anonymous sources between current and former officials of the Pentagon, intelligence and American police. The discussions – still in the preliminary phase – would involve the White House, The Department of Defense and high officials of the secret services. The hypothesis on the table includes targeted raids with unanswered aircraft against the leader of signs and logistical infrastructures in Mexican territory. According to the sources, the operation would be conducted, ideally, in collaboration with the government of Mexico City. All, no definitive decision would have been made yet. Among the options in question there would also be a secret unilateral action, to be implemented without the consent of the Mexican authorities, as a possible last chance. It is not clear, at the moment, if the hypothesis of attacks with drones has already been formally presented to the Mexican government.
Any joint operations would not represent an absolute novelty in the relations between Washington and Mexico City, which in the past have already collaborated in the fight against the signs. However, according to the sources, the scope of the operations currently under discussion – both for the use of US staff and for the direct use of armed drones – would mark a precedent without comparison. The American intelligence and the army would have already intensified the surveillance flights over the Mexican territory to collect sensitive data in view of a potential offensive, considered by the White House a priority for national security. According to some sources, among the possible objectives would appear to be signs, vehicles, warehouses and other elements of the criminal network. The Council for National Security of the White Housecontacted for a comment, did not provide any response.
The Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum He confirmed that these flights are authorized by his government but specified: «We refuse any form of intervention or interference. It was very clear, Mexico coordinates and collaborates, but does not submit. There is no interference, nor will there be. Although this idea has not been formally proposed, we have clarified that it would not face the root of the problem. What really works is the constant attention to deep causes, the arrests led by intelligence and investigations, coordination and zero tolerance for impunity. We categorically refuse these actions and do not believe they will happen. There is a strong and continuous dialogue on safety and many other issues ». The US administration has already mobilized military, intelligence and police resources to counter drug signs, according to current officials and former officials.
Sources also report that the defense secretary Pete Hegseth He would have warned, reservedly, Mexican officials about the possibility of an American unilateral action. Both stressed that “all the options are on the table” when he talks about fighting the signs. According to six sources, the US administration hopes to be able to coordinate any operations against the signs with the army and the Mexican police. However, the same sources specify that most officials consider unilateral military intervention as an extreme ratio, which could compromise relations with the Mexico and put the crucial cooperation at immigration at risk. An armed intervention on the Mexican territory without the approval of the local government would in all probability a violation of international law. However, both democratic and republican administrations have repeatedly argued that the United States They have the right to defend themselves from threats from countries where state control on safety has failed.
After the Trump administration has classified six Mexican drug signs such as foreign terrorist organizations, intelligence agencies and the US armed forces have obtained large legal margins to conduct espionage and secret actions against criminal networks, both in Mexico and beyond. In an attempt to contain the crisis of Fenanyllast month the Mexican government deployed 10,000 soldiers along the northern border, engaged in controlling vehicles in transit. In the same period, Mexico estimated 29 alleged drug traffickers in the United States, including Rafael “Rafa” dear Quinteroalready sentenced for the kidnapping and murder of an agent of the GODDESS in the 80s. After being released in 2013, Caro Quinteral was arrested again in 2022. His delivery is considered a symbolically relevant moment for the American anti -drug forces. But evaluate the progress in the war at the Fenanil remains complex. Overdose deaths decreased by 24% in the year ended in September, according to the Centers for the control and prevention of diseases (CDC). However, the drop is largely attributed to a greater awareness of the risks of Fenanyl and the spread of the Narcanthe life -saving drug. Despite this, tens of thousands of people will be expected to die again this year in the United States due to the substance.
The data on the kidnappings are also fluctuating. Law enforcement officers as NBC writes believe that most of the Fentanyl introduced in the country continue to escape the controls, despite the official statistics of the goddess indicate that, only in the Phoenix division, since 2016 125 million pills containing Fenanyl have been confiscated. What currently affects a cautious optimism between the agents of the goddess – both in service and retired – are the indications that the main Mexican signs would be crossing a phase of instability. The supporters of the use of military drones believe that a sufficient armed pressure can push the signs to reconsider the economic benefits of the trafficking of Fentanyl, considering them lower than the risks. However, many experts and former US officials active in the fight against drug trafficking show skeptics: according to them, these attacks risk having a purely symbolic impact or, worse, to cause hostile political reactions in the Mexican leaders, damaging cooperation between the two countries. Some former diplomats and members of the law enforcement agencies also question the effectiveness of a military approach to significantly reduce the trafficking of Fentanyl. In their opinion, there is no quick solution or a decisive intervention. The most effective strategy, they argue, should be based on close collaboration with the Mexican authorities, on the strengthening of controls to border crossings through advanced scan technologies, on the fight against money laundering and on the commitment of private companies that produce the chemicals used for the synthesis of the drug. Fenanyl, experts observe, is so powerful and easily transportable that it does not require the extensive logistical networks necessary for the trafficking of drugs of vegetable origin, such as cocaine or heroin.
