Mexico City, Mexico - President Claudia Sheinbaum's government and the CIA have rejected claims that the Trump administration is operating a secret anti-cartel war in Mexico.
A new CNN report alleges that the CIA is waging a secret war against the cartels, unknown to senior members of Mexico's government, and has even engaged in covert operations and assassinations.
Specifically, the report points to an incident from March in which a suspected mid-level member of the Sinaloa Cartel, Francisco "El Payin" Beltran, was killed in a mysterious explosion.
The killing took place in broad daylight as Beltran drove along a motorway.
Footage of the scene shows a quick burst of flames before the car careened off the side of the highway. Both Beltran and his driver were killed instantly.
Mexico's Attorney General told CNN that a small explosive device had been hidden inside the car. Some sources suggested that the attack was an assassination facilitated by the CIA.
People familiar with CIA operations inside Mexico told CNN that the attack was part of an organized effort to dismantle entrenched cartel networks, which are often involved in cross-border operations that have serious domestic implications for the US.
This anti-cartel effort has reportedly been going on for a long time, but operations have rapidly ramped up since President Donald Trump reentered the White House last year and designated the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
"The lethality of their operations has been seriously ramped up," one person told CNN. "It's a significant expansion of the kind of thing the CIA has been willing to do inside Mexico."
Claims of covert CIA operations rejected by Mexico and the US officials
Both Mexico's government and the CIA have refuted the CNN report, denying that the US intelligence agency is operating without the consent or knowledge of Mexico and warning that such reports could put lives at risk.
"The Government of Mexico categorically rejects any version that seeks to normalize, justify, or suggest the existence of lethal, covert, or unilateral operations by foreign agencies on national territory," Mexican Secretary of Security Omar Garcia Harfuch wrote on X in response to the story.
"Cooperation with the United States exists, is important, and has yielded relevant results for both countries; however, it is carried out under clear principles: respect for sovereignty, shared responsibility, mutual trust, and cooperation without subordination," he wrote.
His comments come at a time when US-Mexico relations are strained. In April, two US officials – allegedly working for the CIA – died in a car crash on the way back from an anti-cartel operation.
The incident triggered weeks of back-and-forth between Mexico City and Washington, with Sheinbaum revealing that the two agents were not authorized to operate in Mexico and subsequently offering a stern warning to the US.
CIA spokesperson Liz Lyons took to X to deny the CNN report, writing, "This is false and salacious reporting that serves as nothing more than a PR campaign for the cartels and puts American lives at risk."