US pressing Mexico to allow US forces to fight cartels, NYT reports
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US military personnel conducting surveillance near the border wall between the United States and Mexico on Jan 12.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- US intensifies pressure on Mexico for joint military operations against fentanyl labs, says the New York Times citing US officials.
- Mexico's President Sheinbaum rejects US military intervention but had a "good conversation" with Trump on drug trafficking.
- Trump "left all options on the table" to stop drugs, after suggesting strikes on Mexican land targets via Fox News.
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WASHINGTON - The United States is intensifying pressure on Mexico to allow US military forces to conduct joint operations to dismantle fentanyl labs inside the country, the New York Times reported on Jan 15, citing US officials.
US officials want American forces, either Special Operations troops or CIA officers, to accompany Mexican soldiers on raids on suspected fentanyl labs, the report said, citing multiple unnamed officials.
“On the campaign trail, President Trump pledged to take on the cartels,” a White House official told Reuters, adding that Mr Trump has “left all options on the table” to stop drugs from entering the country.
US President Donald Trump told Fox News last week that cartels were running Mexico and suggested the US could strike land targets to combat them, in one of a series of threats to deploy US military force against drug cartels.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said this week that she ruled out a US military intervention
The US request to Mexico to use US forces was renewed after Washington’s forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro
Ms Sheinbaum has previously declined offers of military action
Reuters could not immediately verify the New York Times report.
Mexico’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside regular business hours. REUTERS
