The C.I.A. provided intelligence and planning support for a recent operation against a cartel operative inside Mexico, but was not on the ground when Mexican authorities killed the man, according to a former official and others briefed on the operation.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, CNN reported that the C.I.A. had been involved<\/a> in the assassination of Francisco Beltran, a midlevel cartel operative, in March in what the outlet called an \u201cexpanded\u201d C.I.A. campaign inside the country. The operative was killed when an explosive ripped through his car on the outskirts of Mexico City, which was widely reported at the time. But CNN\u2019s report<\/a> said the incident \u201cwas a targeted assassination, facilitated by C.I.A. operations officers.\u201d<\/p>\n The report also said that the C.I.A. has participated in multiple \u201cdeadly attacks\u201d on Mexican cartel members since last year, with the agency\u2019s level of involvement varying.<\/p>\n The former official and others briefed on the operation said the C.I.A. provided intelligence on the cartel operative\u2019s location and was involved in the planning of the assassination. It is not clear to what extent the C.I.A. participated in the planning. But C.I.A. officers were not present on the site of the attack and were not advising the Mexicans in person when the operation was carried out, the former official and those briefed said. They spoke under the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive operation and intelligence collection.<\/p>\n The CNN story comes at a particularly sensitive time in the countries\u2019 ties, amid mounting pressure from the Trump administration on Mexico to do more to combat cartels and drug trafficking. President Trump has threatened unilateral military action inside Mexico unless the Mexican government does more to counter the criminal groups.<\/p>\n But President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico has dismissed such threats, insisting that American boots on the ground would violate her country\u2019s sovereignty. Instead, she has said, Mexico welcomes American assistance in the form of intelligence sharing and training \u2014 nothing mor<\/p>\n During her Wednesday morning news conference, Ms. Sheinbaum strongly denied that C.I.A. agents were operating in Mexico, let alone working there to kill someone. \u201cImagine the scale of the fabrication and the lies,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She also denied that Mexican authorities had used an explosive against a cartel operative, but she did not explain how the man was killed. She insisted that the Mexican government has \u201calways\u201d acted within the framework of the law.<\/p>\n \u201cHow absurd, as if there were a special area of \u200b\u200bthe Mexican government dedicated to planting bombs to eliminate criminal groups,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n The CNN report could further strain the bilateral relationship between the United States and Mexico, as the Mexican government insists that its own security forces, not American, are leading all counter cartel operations inside Mexico.<\/p>\n The Mexican government was swift to deny the story on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Government of Mexico categorically rejects any version that seeks to normalize, justify, or suggest the existence of lethal, covert, or unilateral operations by foreign agencies on national territory,\u201d Omar Garc\u00eda Harfuch, Mexico\u2019s security secretary, posted on X<\/a>. <\/p>\n The C.I.A. on Tuesday evening also denied CNN\u2019s report. \u201cThis is false and salacious reporting,\u201d Liz Lyons, a C.I.A. spokeswoman, said in a statement posted on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a statement, CNN said the network stood by its reporting.<\/p>\n U.S. officials have previously said that C.I.A. officers<\/a> have been advising Mexican forces in anti-narcotics operations, jointly stationed in command centers inside Mexico. But the American intelligence agents have no on-the-ground role, they insist, and their presence is limited to those joint command centers.<\/p>\n Both American and Mexican security officials have repeatedly said their cooperation is limited to intelligence sharing and training, with no on the ground role for U.S. forces.<\/p>\n In February, the C.I.A. shared intelligence with Mexican forces<\/a> that helped them to capture and kill Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, the longtime leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The drug organization is one of the world\u2019s largest criminal enterprises.<\/p>\n The U.S.-Mexico bilateral relationship came under additional scrutiny last month, when two C.I.A. agents were killed<\/a> in a car accident while driving back from a counter-cartel operation led by Mexican security officials in Chihuahua state.<\/p>\n The episode set off a tense standoff between Ms. Sheinbaum and the government of Chihuahua. She has repeatedly said her security cabinet had no knowledge of C.I.A. activities on the ground in the state and warned that they may have been illegal, launching a federal investigation into the matter.<\/p>\n