This March, a car carrying alleged Sinaloa cartel figure Francisco “El Payin” Beltrán mysteriously exploded on a busy Mexican highway outside the capital city. The incident, said CNN, was part of an “expanded and previously unreported CIA campaign” that has sent American assets to “dismantle the entrenched cartel networks” in Mexico. Both the CIA and the Mexican government have denied the network’s allegations of an agency-run disruption program south of the border, even as newly reported details suggest a complex — and widening — operation.Source of friction with MexicoThe renewed focus on potential CIA activity within Mexico comes as President Donald Trump pursues an “aggressive campaign” against alleged Latin American drug cartels, a campaign that critics claim has “overstepped legal and presidential norms,” said Al Jazeera. The effort has been a “source of friction with Mexico” and culminated last month in a threat from President Claudia Sheinbaum to “sanction authorities” who allegedly allowed CIA operatives to “participate in raids on clandestine drug laboratories.”
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