US pressing Mexico to allow US forces to fight cartels, NYT reports

The border wall between the United States and Mexico, after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she ruled out a U.S. military intervention to combat drug cartels, following a "good conversation" on Monday with U.S. President Donald Trump on security and drug trafficking, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, January 12, 2026. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

Jan 15 (Reuters) - The United ‌States is intensifying pressure on Mexico to allow U.S. ‌military forces to conduct joint operations to dismantle fentanyl ‌labs inside the country, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing U.S. officials.

U.S. 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.