Overview
- Two current U.S. officials say detailed planning has begun and early-stage training is underway for potential ground operations, though deployment is not imminent and no final decision has been made.
- The contemplated mission would place Joint Special Operations Command personnel under intelligence-community authority known as Title 50, with CIA officers involved and actions treated as covert.
- Plans call for primarily using drone strikes to hit drug labs and cartel leaders, with some systems requiring operators on Mexican soil for effective use.
- The administration prefers Mexican coordination but has not ruled out acting without it, while President Claudia Sheinbaum has publicly rejected any U.S. military intervention.
- February terrorist designations of six Mexican cartels broadened legal authorities as part of a wider campaign that has included 15 U.S. strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats near Venezuela, with the Pentagon saying 64 people were killed.