CIA may play larger role in combating Mexican cartels under Trump: Report

• The CIA may expand its role in combating Mexican drug cartels under President Trump, with a focus on disrupting cartel networks. CIA Director John Ratcliffe plans to apply counterterrorism strategies to the counternarcotics mission.
• The U.S. will increase support for anti-drug forces in Mexico and the region. However, it’s unclear whether U.S. personnel will directly target cartel leaders.
• Former officials warn this could strain U.S.-Mexico relations.

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The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) could take on a larger role in battling Mexican drug cartels under President Donald Trump, The Washington Post reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

Mexican drug cartels are known to be powerful and violent criminal organizations primarily involved in trafficking drugs over the United States’ southern border, as well as human trafficking.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe plans to shift agency resources to its counternarcotics mission and disrupt the cartel networks, one person told The Post anonymously. Ratcliffe intends to use lessons learned in counterterrorism operations and apply them to the cartel mission.

“Countering drug cartels in Mexico and regionally is a priority for CIA as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to end the grave threat from narco-trafficking,” a CIA spokesperson told The Post in a statement. “Director Ratcliffe is determined to put CIA’s unique expertise to work against this multifaceted challenge.”

The plan will prioritize increased U.S. support for anti-drug forces in Mexico and the wider hemisphere, sources say. However, it’s unclear whether U.S. military special operations or CIA personnel will be tasked with directly targeting cartel leaders in Mexico.

Former intelligence and military officials caution that this could provoke a fierce backlash. The Post reports that they say it could harm U.S. relations with Mexico, including counternarcotics cooperation.

Another anonymous Pentagon official said there are no such plans in the works.

On Inauguration Day, Trump signed an executive order giving Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other cabinet officials two weeks to decide which cartels and other foreign groups would be designated as foreign terrorist organizations.

The executive action aims to “ensure the total elimination of these organizations’ presence in the United States and their ability to threaten the territory, safety, and security of the United States.”

That two-week deadline has lapsed, and, citing U.S. officials, The New York Times reports that “The State Department plans to designate six Mexican cartels: the Sinaloa cartel, Jalisco New Generation cartel, the Northeast cartel, the Michoacán Family, the United Cartels, and the Cartel del Golfo.”