CIA Conducts Deadly Operations Against Cartel Members in Mexico

CIA operatives inside Mexico have directly participated in deadly attacks on several mostly mid-level cartel members since last year, according to sources who spoke to CNN. Beltran, known as “El Payin,” and his driver were killed instantly on March 28.

Video of the event shows a brief burst of flames as the vehicle continued rolling forward before drifting off the road. Mexican authorities described the device as an explosive hidden inside the vehicle. Sources told CNN the attack was a targeted assassination facilitated by CIA operations officers.

Beltran was identified as a mid-level member of the Sinaloa Cartel. The Beltran operation formed part of a previously unreported CIA campaign inside Mexico led by the agency’s Ground Branch unit. The effort aims to dismantle cartel networks by targeting not only top leaders but also lower-level operatives who support trafficking operations.

The level of CIA involvement has ranged from intelligence sharing to direct participation in lethal operations. “The lethality of their operations has been seriously ramped up,” one person briefed on the operations told CNN. The CIA declined to comment.

Several Mexican government agencies did not respond to requests for comment. The operations may violate Mexican law, which bars foreign agents from participating in law enforcement actions without federal government permission.

The Trump administration began expanding the CIA’s role in counter-cartel activities shortly after the president took office in January 2025. CIA Director John Ratcliffe has focused on increasing the agency’s involvement in these missions. Trump designated major Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, providing additional legal authorities for U.S. intelligence activities.

Late last year, Trump updated and expanded the CIA’s authorities to conduct lethal targeting and covert action in Latin America. The agency also increased surveillance drone flights over Mexico. Ron Johnson, a former CIA paramilitary officer, was confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Mexico during this period.

In a speech last week, Trump referred to a “land force” operating in Mexico against traffickers. He stated that drugs entering the United States by sea had decreased 97 percent due to military campaigns in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, though the source of that figure was not specified.

A counterterrorism strategy document released by the administration this week lists the “neutralization” of cartels in the Western Hemisphere as its first priority. It states the United States will continue targeting designated cartels abroad, acting unilaterally if necessary.

The first public indication of a clandestine CIA presence emerged late last month when two U.S. embassy officials who were CIA operatives died in a car accident in Chihuahua state. Hours earlier, the two and two additional CIA operatives had participated in a raid on a methamphetamine laboratory led by the director of Chihuahua’s State Investigation Agency.

All four were members of Ground Branch and were dressed in plain clothes. Mexico’s federal government stated afterward that it had not authorized their presence. The exact number of CIA officers in Mexico has remained small but has fluctuated, with sources indicating room for growth.

The agency has not yet deployed its full complement of Ground Branch assets. The CIA has also provided intelligence supporting non-lethal operations, including the arrest of at least one mid-to-high level cartel figure in recent months. Many of the lethal operations have received little attention outside Mexico because the targets are not widely known figures.

" — Source briefed on the operations (CNN) The approach mirrors counterterrorism missions previously conducted against groups in the Middle East and other regions.