The CIA helped take down El Mencho – Mexico's most-wanted drug lord – in February.
Sheinbaum thanked America for the intelligence tip and insisted no U.S. forces were "involved."
Now a bombshell report reveals what "involved" actually meant, and Mexico's president isn't happy about it.
CIA Ground Branch Has Been Running Targeted Assassination Missions Against Sinaloa Cartel Since Last Year
A bombshell report from CNN revealed that the CIA’s operations in Mexico against the drug cartels are far more expansive than anyone knew.
"The lethality of their operations has been seriously ramped up," one person briefed on the CIA's Mexico campaign told CNN. "It's a significant expansion of the kind of thing the CIA has been willing to do inside Mexico."
That expansion includes direct participation in assassination operations – not just intelligence sharing.
On March 28, an explosive device hidden inside a vehicle detonated on a major highway outside Mexico City, killing Francisco "El Payin" Beltran, a mid-level Sinaloa Cartel operative, and his driver.
Mexican authorities said nothing publicly about what caused the blast.
Multiple sources told CNN the attack was a targeted assassination facilitated by CIA operations officers on the ground – and the State of Mexico's Attorney General confirmed the device had been placed inside the car.
The Beltran hit was not a one-off.
Sources told CNN that CIA operatives have directly participated in deadly attacks on several mostly mid-level cartel members since last year, with Ground Branch – the CIA's elite paramilitary unit that spent two decades running counterterrorism missions across the Middle East – now leading the charge in America's own backyard.
How Trump Used the Cartel Terrorist Designation to Unleash the CIA Inside Mexico
On his first day back in office, Trump designated the Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and Nueva Familia Michoacána as foreign terrorist organizations – unlocking intelligence authorities and legal tools the CIA could not previously use inside Mexico.
Trump then quietly updated and expanded the CIA's authorities to conduct lethal targeting and covert action in Latin America.
John Ratcliffe has been focused on expanding the CIA's counter-cartel role since the day he was confirmed as director.
Ron Johnson – a former CIA paramilitary officer – was installed as U.S. ambassador to Mexico, putting someone who speaks Ground Branch's language directly across the table from Mexican officials.
"He's been integral to this whole effort," one former CIA officer told CNN.
CIA intelligence tracked El Mencho for months before Mexican special forces killed him in Tapalpa, Jalisco in February.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the U.S. role: "This operation… would not have happened without the leadership of President Trump."
When cartel members retaliated by torching buses and blocking highways across multiple Mexican states, U.S. officials scrambled to evacuate CIA and FBI personnel caught in the fire-bombings.
The White House's 2026 Counterterrorism Strategy – signed by Trump on May 6 – puts it plainly: cartel "neutralization" in the Western Hemisphere is America's first national security priority, and the U.S. will act unilaterally "if they cannot, or will not" cooperate.
Why Mexico Cannot Stop CIA Covert Operations No Matter How Loud Sheinbaum Objects
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum publicly objects.
After CIA operatives turned up in an unauthorized meth lab raid in Chihuahua – an operation that ended with two agency officers dead in a car accident – she declared that "there cannot be agents from any U.S. government institution operating in the Mexican field."
The problem is that the U.S. Justice Department last month accused the sitting governor of Sinaloa – a member of Sheinbaum's own Morena party – of conspiring with the Sinaloa Cartel, along with nine other current and former Mexican officials.
Ground Branch isn't working with Mexico City because Mexico City can't be trusted.
After years of watching fentanyl pour across the border while Mexican officials looked the other way, Trump decided America would do the job itself.
Sources:
- Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, Evan Perez, Mauricio Torres, "CIA Escalates Secret War on Cartels with Deadly Operations Inside Mexico," CNN, May 12, 2026.
- Adam Shaw, "Trump's 'Total Elimination' Strategy Paved Way for Fall of Cartel Kingpin 'El Mencho,'" Fox News, February 23, 2026.
- "2026 United States Counterterrorism Strategy," White House, May 6, 2026.
- "Trump Counterterrorism Strategy: Aggressive Response, Border Security, Hemispheric Safety," Breitbart, May 6, 2026.