Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum denies reports of CIA operations against cartels

President Claudia Sheinbaum has rejected a media report suggesting that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives from the United States directly participated in deadly operations targeting drug cartels on Mexican territory. In her morning news conference on Wednesday, Sheinbaum said that reports, from CNN and The New York Times, about such activity were fictitious. Recommended Stories list of 3 items end of list The CIA has also denied the reports, while CNN has said that it stands by its reporting. “Imagine how big the lie is if the CIA itself needs to come out and dismiss” the story, Sheinbaum told reporters. She likewise called a New York Times report a “fiction the size of the universe”. It was the highest-level rejection yet to come from the Mexican government since the allegations were made on Tuesday. Sheinbaum has continued to insist that US law enforcement officials do not directly participate in operations on Mexican soil, despite news reports suggesting otherwise . On Tuesday, CNN quoted anonymous sources as saying that the CIA had engaged in an “expanded and previously unreported” campaign to attack cartels within Mexico, including by directly participating in targeted assassinations. The report pointed to a March 2026 explosion that killed Francisco Beltran, a member of the Sinaloa Cartel, as well as his driver. Mexico’s security laws require that foreign operatives receive permission from the federal government to operate on the country’s soil. …