Mexico, CIA deny CNN report of covert cartel killings

Mexico and the Central Intelligence Agency both rejected a CNN report that CIA operatives directly took part in fatal attacks on cartel targets in Mexico over the past year. The dispute centers on a far more sensitive question than one news story: whether covert U.S. action has crossed from intelligence sharing into lethal operations on Mexican soil.

The CNN account, published on May 12, said the CIA had expanded covert activity through its elite Ground Branch unit and linked one March killing to Francisco Beltran, described as an alleged cartel operative, on a Mexican highway. Other accounts identified the target as Francisco “El Payin” Beltran and placed the explosion on March 28 near Tecámac, outside Mexico City. Those differences matter because the public record does not present one settled version of who was killed, where it happened and how the attack unfolded.

Mexican Security Minister Omar García Harfuch rejected any suggestion of lethal, covert or unilateral foreign operations in Mexico. The Mexican government said it “categorically rejects” that kind of account. A CIA spokesperson dismissed the report as “false” and “salacious” and said it functioned as a “PR campaign for the cartels.” The competing statements left the core allegation in open conflict, with each government drawing a hard line around its own version of events.

The controversy sharpened after two U.S. officials died in a car accident in Chihuahua on April 19, after returning from a Mexican security operation to dismantle a drug lab. Three sources identified the men as CIA officers. President Claudia Sheinbaum said her federal government had not been aware of their role. She has said Mexico welcomes intelligence sharing and security cooperation, but will not accept U.S. agents or forces participating in operations on Mexican territory.

The broader backdrop is a more aggressive U.S. campaign against Mexico’s cartels. The State Department has described Cártel de Sinaloa as one of the world’s most powerful drug cartels and one of the largest traffickers of fentanyl into the United States. It designated leaders of Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación as specially designated global terrorists on June 18, 2025, and said in April 2026 that the Trump administration had imposed visa restrictions on 75 people tied to the Sinaloa Cartel. Donald Trump has repeatedly called for greater U.S. military force against Mexican cartels and has threatened unilateral action if Washington believes Mexico is not doing enough.

For both governments, the fight is no longer just about cartels. It is about sovereignty, intelligence transparency and whether counterdrug cooperation can survive repeated clashes over who is operating, and killing, on Mexican soil.