Tragedy struck the United States and Mexico last Sunday. As U.S. and Mexican officials were returning from an anti-drug operation in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua, the car they were riding in skidded off the mountainous road and exploded in a ball of fire. The U.S. Embassy acknowledged that two of its employees were killed in the crash. The embassy employees were actually CIA officers.
The Los Angeles Times reported this week that four CIA officers were actually involved in the operation, and that they had been conducting raids alongside Mexican forces against drug cartel production facilities. To be clear, the CIA presence on Mexican soil is nothing new. What is new is how far out into the field these operatives are now working. Reflecting the sensitivity of this issue, Chihuahua Attorney General Cesar Jauregui first claimed that the CIA officers who died were assisting Mexican personnel in the destruction of drug labs. The narrative then changed: The Americans were merely in the same area, undergoing a separate training mission with Mexican colleagues.
These competing explanations have created a scandal for Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. She claims she was not informed about the CIA operation and that its existence in Mexico would be a violation of the Constitution. Sheinbaum sent a letter to Ronald Johnson, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, to explain what happened. She also pointed the finger at Chihuahua’s state government, one of a few Mexican states led by the political opposition, for keeping the federal authorities out of the loop.
From a U.S. policy perspective, this CIA activity is hardly surprising. Since last September, the U.S. military has destroyed 53 boats in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean that were allegedly carrying drugs to the U.S., killing an estimated 181 people. The Trump administration views its counterdrug efforts as a top priority.
The U.S. war in the shadows reaches beyond Mexico.
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