Overview

• The Washington Post reported that in the first weeks of President Trump’s second term the DEA urged targeted killings and strikes on drug labs and infrastructure inside Mexico.
• White House and Pentagon officials resisted, citing the lack of congressional authorization for extraterritorial force and the risk of U.S. civilian casualties, and the options were not implemented.
• The administration has recently carried out lethal actions against suspected drug boats in the southern Caribbean, signaling a turn to maritime operations.
• Mexico’s government has emphasized sovereignty constraints, including a constitutional reform against foreign interference, even as it highlights arrests and seizures against cartels.
• Republican lawmakers are discussing draft legislation that would authorize the president to use “all necessary and appropriate force” against designated narcoterrorist entities.