A Reaper drone similar to the ones used by the CIA over Mexican airspace. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

By KELIN DILLON

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is allegedly intensifying the deployment of its terrorist surveillance drones over Mexico, U.S. news agency CNN reported on Tuesday, Feb. 18.

While the United States air surveillance of Mexican organized crime groups is nothing new, CNN says the MQ-9 Reaper drone flights are taking place across Mexico’s sovereign land – not mainly outside of Mexican airspace, as previously thought.

Drones are particularly capable of identifying fentanyl labs due to the amount of chemicals the drug manufacturing process releases into the air.

“The MQ-9 drones used for the missions are not currently armed. But they can be equipped with payloads to carry out precision strikes. The United States regularly uses them to attack suspected terrorists in Syria, Iraq and Somalia,” said CNN.

The intelligence move comes just days after the administration of the U.S. President Donald J. Trump classified several Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations, giving the United States a broader scope in its approach to handling the narcotraffickers.

According to some U.S. officials, the terrorist designation also allows the United States to launch direct attacks against organized crime groups.

A CIA spokesperson went on to tell CNN that “fighting drug cartels in Mexico and the region is a priority for the CIA as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to end the grave threat of narcotics trafficking.”

Shortly after CNN broke the drone surveillance news, fellow U.S. publication The New York Times released its own report claiming that U.S. drone surveillance of Mexico was also conducted underneath the administration of Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, which the U.S. purportedly shared with the Mexican government.

For her part, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (CSP) downplayed the CIA initiative during her daily morning press conference Tuesday, calling it “this little campaign.”