CNN Investigation: CIA Conducted Covert Lethal Operations Inside Mexico Against Cartels

CNN published an investigative report on May 12 revealing that CIA operatives had directly participated in lethal attacks on drug trafficking syndicates inside Mexican territory since 2025, including a March 2026 car explosion targeting an alleged Sinaloa Cartel member. Operations ranged from intelligence sharing to direct participation in assassination operations. President Sheinbaum stated she had not been informed of CIA involvement in a meth lab raid in Chihuahua and threatened sanctions against Chihuahua state authorities for allowing unauthorized foreign presence. Mexico's foreign ministry and the CIA both formally denied the characterization of an 'assassination campaign,' but neither categorically denied all intelligence cooperation. The revelation represented the most significant challenge to Mexico's doctrine of territorial sovereignty since the 2011 Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal and the 2012 DEA helicopter incident. Sheinbaum invoked Mexico's constitutional principle of non-intervention and demanded a full explanation from Washington. The episode — coming alongside the DOJ's Sinaloa governor indictments — marked a new low in institutional trust between the two governments and reopened the fundamental debate about whether Mexico's political sovereignty is compatible with US counter-narcotics imperatives.