Latest news with #PredatorB
WIRED
13-06-2025
- Politics
- WIRED
The High-Flying Escalation of CBP's Predator Drone Flights Over LA
Jun 13, 2025 11:48 AM Custom and Border Protection flying powerful Predator B drones over Los Angeles further breaks the seal on federal involvement in civilian matters typically handled by state or local authorities. An MQ-9 Reaper drone with Customs and Border Protection awaits the next mission over the US-Mexico border on November 4, 2022, at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. Photograph:On Wednesday, United States Customs and Border Protection confirmed to 404 Media that it has been flying Predator drones over Los Angeles amid the LA protests. The military drones, a CBP statement said, 'are supporting our federal law enforcement partners in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with aerial support of their operations.' State-level law enforcement agencies across the US use various types of drones and other vehicles, like helicopters, to conduct aerial surveillance, and other agencies use drones in their operations as well. For example, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection 'doubled its use of drones' this year, according to the office of Governor Gavin Newsom, as part of efforts to combat forest fires. However, CBP's MQ-9 Reaper drones, also known as Predator B drones, are military-caliber UAVs used for aerial reconnaissance that can be armed. In 2020, during President Donald Trump's first administration, CBP flew a Predator drone over Minneapolis during the George Floyd protests. And, in the intervening years, researchers have tracked Department of Homeland Security Predator drones flying over various US cities with no clear explanation. In the case of LA, Trump has deployed more than 700 active-duty Marines and federalized the National Guard, sending nearly 4,000 guardsmen to California over Newsom's objections. In combination with these actions, the presence of the CBP drones paints a picture of expanding federal involvement—and potentially control—over what are typically state matters. 'Military gear has been used for domestic law enforcement for a long time, but flying military gear over LA at a time when the president has sent military units against the wishes of the governor is noteworthy," says Matthew Feeney, a longtime emerging technologies researcher and advocacy manager at the nonpartisan UK civil liberties group Big Brother Watch. 'If the federal government portrays immigration as a national security issue, we shouldn't be surprised if it openly uses the tools of national security—i.e., military hardware—in response.' Carrying powerful cameras and other sensors, Predator drones can record clear, detailed footage of events like protests from high altitudes. CBP's 'Air and Marine Operations (AMO) is providing aerial support to federal law enforcement partners conducting operations in the Greater Los Angeles area,' CBP told WIRED in a statement responding to questions about whether the operation over LA is routine or anomalous. 'AMO's efforts are focused on situational awareness and officer safety support as requested.' Patrick Eddington, a senior fellow in homeland security and civil liberties at the Cato Institute, warns that 'the more the protests spread to other cities, the more of that kind of surveillance we'll see.' CBP told 404 Media this week that 'AMO is not engaged in the surveillance of first amendment activities.' That statement aligns with a commitment the US Department of Homeland Security made in December 2015. 'Unmanned aircraft system-recorded data should not be collected, disseminated or retained solely for the purpose of monitoring activities protected by the US Constitution, such as the First Amendment's protections of religion, speech, press, assembly, and redress of grievances (e.g., protests, demonstrations),' a DHS 'Privacy, Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Unmanned Aircraft Systems Working Group' wrote at the time. In practice, though, it is unclear how the Predator surveillance could 'support' ICE agents and other federal law enforcement without monitoring the protests and capturing images of protesters. While researchers note that the use of Predator drones over LA is not unprecedented—and, at this point, perhaps not surprising—they emphasize that this pattern of activity over time only makes it more likely that the federal government will deploy such monitoring in the future, regardless of how a state is handling a situation. 'It's not new or even all that unexpected from a spooked Trump administration, but it's still a terrible use of military technology on civilian populations,' says UAV researcher Faine Greenwood. 'It's basically continuing a worrying trend, but also people should be angry about it and refuse to normalize it.'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Predator Drones Are Being Flown Over Protesters In Los Angeles
As part of the massive deployment of federal law enforcement and even active duty troops to Los Angeles, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Air and Marine Operations (AMO) department has been flying MQ-9 Predator B drones over the city. CBP has been flying these unmanned aircraft since 2005 in service of their mission of detecting illegal border crossings. Now, they are being used to conduct aerial surveillance of the protests against raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. LA is a fair distance from the border, and the protestors are not crossing it anyway, meaning the drones are getting used outside of their main mission. This isn't the first time they've been pulled into domestic surveillance duty. During the protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd in 2020, CBP flew them over Minneapolis to keep eye on the protestors there. This drew swift criticism at the time, including by Democratic members of Congress, and Predators do not appear to have been used for this purpose again until now. That said, aerial surveillance of protests, notably by helicopters, is a common practice. The question now is whether unmanned platforms will start being used more regularly, particularly under an aggressive Trump administration. Read more: The Best-Looking Pickup Trucks Ever Sold, According To Our Readers The Predator B drones (which are called "Reapers" in their military variation) used by CBP are strictly surveillance aircraft; they are not armed with any ordnance. While they do have radar systems, those are mostly useful for detecting vehicles; what's relevant here is their electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors, basically cameras capable of seeing into both visible and infrared spectrums. Eyes in the sky, in other words. The Department of Homeland Security has released some footage captured by the Predators on X, cut with some intimidating music in a clear effort to push a specific narrative (the post's text, "California politicians must call off their rioting mob," is not exactly subtle or, for that matter, accurate). Low-rent movie trailer music aside, the footage does demonstrate the drone's ability to capture wide-angle shots of the situation. For what it's worth, CBP told The War Zone that the drones are specifically "providing officer safety surveillance" and are "not engaged in the surveillance of First Amendment activities." Given that clashes with protestors is what's at issue, though, that's functionally not much of a distinction. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Department Of Homeland Security Predator B Drones Are Orbiting Over Los Angeles
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been flying its Predator B drones, also commonly referred to by their military variant designation of MQ-9 Reapers, over Los Angeles as part of the U.S. government's response to the unrest there, the agency confirmed to us on Wednesday. The flights are in response to protests that escalated to violence on multiple occasions, following a massive operation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last Friday. Persistent aerial surveillance like this has long been controversial, with civil rights advocates saying it violates the right to privacy and undermines the Constitution. At the same time, the fact that a drone is doing it largely evokes a uniquely upsetting response. While using the Predator Bs over urban locales is rare, it's not unprecedented, and manned platforms do this kind of work every day across the country. CBP's Air and Marine Operations (AMO) 'MQ-9 Predators are supporting our federal law enforcement partners in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with aerial support of their operations,' spokesman John Mennell told us Wednesday afternoon in response to our query earlier this week. 'Additionally, they are providing officer safety surveillance when requested by officers. AMO is not engaged in the surveillance of First Amendment activities.' CBP had been mum about the issue for days, even though open-source reporting on social media had already presented compelling evidence of the drones' orbits. On June 9, user @Aeroscout on X posted air traffic control (ATC) audio stating that two 'Q-9s' – call signs TROY 703 and TROY 701, had passed each other in airspace over Yuma, Arizona, as one was replacing the other over Los Angeles. @Aeroscout had previously posted ATC audio of TROY 701 checking in on Los Angeles Center Sector 09. A short time later, Alaska Flight 1020 was given a traffic advisory for 'drone traffic.' I've confirmed that the two targets operating in hexagonal surveillance orbits over DTLA these past 36 hours are both MQ-9s, callsigns TROY701 and 703As 703 replaced 701, they passed each other in the airspace near Yuma, AZ where I found this needle in the haystack! Listen — Aeroscout (@aeroscouting) June 9, 2025 "TROY701"Department of Homeland Security MQ-9 over Los Angeles this evening. It's been operational for over 9 hours now. Heard working 128.600 Los Angeles Center, Sector 09 at 16:45z, 8 June 2025 — Aeroscout (@aeroscouting) June 9, 2025 While there has not yet been any explicit identification of the 'Q-9s' as Customs and Border Protection (CPB) Predator Bs, TROY is a known Department of Homeland Security (DHS) callsign. TROY 314, a CBP Multi-Role Enforcement Aircraft (MEA) based on the Beechcraft King Air 350ER twin-engine turboprop, and a CBP Black Hawk helicopter using the callsign TROY 212, were also tracked over Los Angeles this weekend. Homeland Security ISR bird running ovals over #Paramount earlier; now over Los Angeles proper. TROY314 is Beechcraft Scorpion N251J # — Evergreen Intel (@vcdgf555) June 7, 2025 One high flier conducting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance over the riots/protests in downtown LA at 2326z in support of the Dept. of Homeland Security. TROY212 is a DHS/CBP H-60 Blackhawk that some have reported flying low in the area. The remaining appear to be… — TheIntelFrog (@TheIntelFrog) June 8, 2025 Furthermore, plane trackers using online software first began noticing aircraft flying hexagonal patterns over Los Angeles on Sunday. Though not always the case, this is indicative of CBP Predator B surveillance patterns observed in the past. This includes the use of one of the CBP Q-9s over Minneapolis back in 2020. Hexagons aren't always MQ-9s, but in this case, yes, there are two MQ-9 Reapers over LA today. Just ridiculous. — John Wiseman (@lemonodor) June 9, 2025 NOW: @CBP Predator Drone #CPB104 circling over Minneapolis at 20K feet. Took off from Grand Forks Air Force Base. #Minneapolisprotests #surveillance #planespotting — Jason Paladino (@jason_paladino) May 29, 2020 CBP has MQ-9s at three locations: the National Air Security Operations Centers in Sierra Vista, Arizona, located on Fort Huachuca, San Angelo in Texas, and Grand Forks in North Dakota. What specific version or versions of the Predator B CBP have been flying over Los Angeles is unclear. The TROY 701 callsign was tied to a particular tail number, CBP-113, back in April, but it is not clear if that same drone has been using the callsign in the past few days. CBP-113 is what CBP has referred to in the past as a Guardian Maritime Mission version of the Q-9, which features a Raytheon SeaVue multi-mode radar under the central fuselage, which features surface search and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery modes. SAR images are highly detailed maps of the surface below, which can be produced day or night, despite any cloud cover, smoke, or dust. Guardian Maritime Mission drones also have electro-optical and infrared full-motion video cameras in a turret under the nose, as well as data links capable of sending imagery and radar tracks back to control stations on the ground in near real-time. CBP's Predator B fleet, which consists of around eight drones, includes at least two other versions. There are baseline types that feature the same sensor turret as the Guardian Maritime Mission versions, but with a smaller Lynx SAR-capable radar rather than the more powerful SeaVue. It is also worth noting here that these drones, as well as CBP Predator B in general, are sometimes confusingly referred to as Predator Bs. This is a holdover from manufacturer General Atomics' original nomenclature for the drone, which evolved from the iconic MQ-1 Predator A. One of these Predator Bs was identified as the type that flew over Minneapolis in 2020. CBP also has a variant that blend features of the other two types. All CBP Predeator Bs are unarmed, but can carry additional podded sensors under their wings. The drones are part of a much larger response to the ongoing unrest, as protesters clashed with law enforcement who appeared to use tear gas and fired non-lethal rounds toward some groups of demonstrators. Some rioters pelted the LA police with rocks. BREAKING | Sixth Day of ICE ProtestsDemonstrators have once again taken to the streets after days of unrest in the city. Stay updated and #ProtectTheWorld with Citizen. — Citizen Los Angeles (@CitizenAppLA) June 11, 2025 In LA, riot police shot an Australian journalist with a rubber bullet, apparently without provocation, as she was reporting from the scene. — Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) June 9, 2025 New video of LA rock thrower at Paramount, CA riot from @ABC7 helicopter & crew. Creating barricade & walking around fire — NOVA Campaigns (@NoVA_Campaigns) June 10, 2025 Rioter in LA throws a rock at a police officer's head. — The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) June 9, 2025 Responding to President Donald Trump's directives, U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) on Monday said it was activating a Marine infantry battalion that was placed in an alert status over the weekend. 'Approximately 700 Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division will seamlessly integrate with the Title 10 forces under Task Force 51 who are protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area,' the command said in a statement. The activation of the Marines 'is intended to provide Task Force 51 with adequate numbers of forces to provide continuous coverage of the area in support of the lead federal agency,' the statement continued. Task Force 51 'is U.S. Army North's Contingency Command Post, which provides a rapidly deployable capability to partner with civil authorities and DoD entities in response to Homeland Defense and Homeland Security Operations. It is commanded by Maj. Gen. Scott M. Sherman. ' Task Force 51 is comprised of approximately 2,100 National Guard soldiers in a Title 10 status and 700 active-duty Marines. 'Task Force 51 forces have been trained in de-escalation, crowd control, and standing rules for the use of force,' NORTHCOM explained. PRESS RELEASE: Approximately 700 Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division will seamlessly integrate with the Title 10 forces under Task Force 51 in the Los Angeles Area. @DODResponse @1stMEF @DeptofDefense @USArmyNorth Read more: — U.S. Northern Command (@USNorthernCmd) June 9, 2025 The activation of Marines follows a directive Trump issued Saturday, invoking a legal provision allowing him to deploy federal service members when there is 'a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.' He said he had authorized the deployment of 2,000 members of the National Guard, The Associated Press reported. CNN reported that as of Wednesday, the 700 Marines mobilized by the Pentagon had not yet been sent to Los Angeles and are still training, according to Sherman. 'Meanwhile, approximately 2,000 National Guard troops are currently on active duty and helping ICE agents during demonstrations, Sherman said,' according to the network. 'An additional 2,000 Guard members will be ready for duty Thursday afternoon, Sherman added.' Live updates: Marines on standby outside LA as protests pop up across the US. National Guard troops have temporarily detained civilians in LA protests, commander saysLA protests against Trump ICE raids, curfew starts, Chicago demonstrations | CNNhttps:// — Tony MacIntyre (@Tony_MacIntyre) June 11, 2025 California Gov. Gavin Newsom has decried Trump's response, as you can see in the following video posted by CBS News. There is precedent for the use of these unarmed surveillance assets to watch over large demonstrations. As we reported at the time, and noted earlier in this piece, a Predator B orbited around Minneapolis, Minnesota in May 2020 as the city saw increasingly violent protests in response to the killing of resident George Floyd while he was being arrested by members of the Minneapolis Police Department. The use of persistent aerial surveillance for law enforcement purposes has long been a controversial topic. Civil liberties advocates say these and other mass surveillance activities violate rights to personal privacy and undermine constitutional protections against unlawful searches. On Wednesday, CBP attempted to address those concerns. 'AMO does not possess or use facial recognition technology on any of its aircraft,' the agency said. 'AMO does not own or have access to any facial recognition algorithms or software.' In addition, 'on-board cameras cannot provide enough resolution or detail to identify a person (that is to discern physical characteristics such as height, weight, eye color, hairstyle, or a facial image), or to discern a vehicle license plate number,' CBP further explained. 'These cameras can be used to discern rough details such as clothing color, the presence of a backpack, or in some cases whether an individual is carrying an unconcealed weapon that may pose a threat.' Still, the use of these drones over areas of civil unrest is almost certain to further fuel that debate. With protests against the Trump administration's immigration actions spreading to other cities, we will likely see the use of these and other aerial surveillance assets employed elsewhere, as well. Contact the author: howard@
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
CIA MQ-9 Reapers Are Covertly Spying On Mexican Drug Cartels: Reports
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is reportedly flying unarmed MQ-9 Reapers inside Mexican airspace to snoop on drug cartels. The overflights are said to have built off of a covert CIA drone surveillance program focused on finding labs producing the narcotic Fentanyl inside Mexico that began under President Joe Biden. The use of Reapers, which are capable of being armed, comes amid talk of unprecedented direct action by American forces against Mexico's cartels, operations that could include drone strikes as TWZ previously highlighted in an in-depth feature. CNN first reported the CIA MQ-9 flights over Mexico earlier today. The exact size of the agency's Reaper fleet and how those drones may be configured compared to ones in service elsewhere, including with the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), is unknown. Current generation Reapers can stay aloft for more than a day at a time depending on their configuration and loadout. MQ-9s can carry an array of precision-guided bombs and missiles, as well as a wide variety of sensors internally and in underwing pods, along with other stores. There is also considerable evidence of a very close working relationship when it comes to drone operations between the CIA and the U.S. military's secretive Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), as well as Air Force Special Operations Command. 'The … flights were communicated to Congress by the Trump administration using a particular notification reserved for new or updated covert programs that the CIA intends either to conceal or deny, a source familiar with the matter said — suggesting that the flights represent a distinct escalation,' according to CNN. 'The notifications made no mention of Mexican partners, the source said.' TWZ has reached out to the CIA and the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C. for more information. 'The CIA has flown surveillance drones to hunt cartels inside Mexico before, according to a former and a current U.S. official, under at least one small program that partnered with Mexican authorities,' the report added. It is interesting to note here that CBP has, at least in the past, flown its unarmed Reapers, which it refers to as Predator B drones, inside Mexican airspace in cooperation with that country's government. 'CBP also uses Predator B aircraft to perform bi-national law enforcement operations with the government of Mexico through coordination at the Information Analysis Center located at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico,' according to a 2017 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a Congressional watchdog. 'We found that 7 percent of Predator B flight hours from fiscal years 2013 through 2016 were in foreign airspace located in Mexico or 1,615 flight hours.' A separate report today from The New York Times does not mention the use of MQ-9s, specifically, but provides additional context about CIA drone flights over Mexico. 'The United States has stepped up secret drone flights over Mexico to hunt for fentanyl labs, part of the Trump administration's more aggressive campaign against drug cartels, according to U.S. officials,' according to that report. 'The covert drone program, which has not been previously disclosed, began under the Biden administration, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with the program.' 'C.I.A. officers in Mexico pass information collected by the drones to Mexican officials,' the Times' story adds. 'The drones have proved adept at identifying labs, according to people with knowledge of the program. Fentanyl labs emit chemicals that make them easy to find from the air.' The ability of aerial platforms to use multi-spectral imaging capabilities to detect chemical plumes is not new, as TWZ has reported on in the past. Depending on their exact sensor configuration, CIA drones, including MQ-9s, would be able to gather other kinds of data via cameras and radars, as well as collect signals intelligence, such as communications chatter between cartel members. Uncrewed aircraft could also use sensors to geolocate emitters like radios and cellphones and otherwise track the movements of targets of interest. This, in turn, could be used to help establish so-called 'patterns of life' for a specific individual or group of individuals. That data can then be used to further refine intelligence-gathering efforts, as well as support the planning and execution of targeted raids or strikes. The U.S. military and the U.S. Intelligence community have honed the ability to use sensor-packed aircraft, crewed and uncrewed, to find and fix often hard-to-locate targets after two decades of counter-terrorism operations. These skill sets continue to be actively demonstrated in places like Syria on a regular basis. Northrop Grumman's AN/ZPY-5 Vehicle and Dismount Exploitation Radar (VADER), which has flown on CBP Reapers and certain U.S. military aircraft, is just one particularly prime example of relevant known available sensor capabilities. VADER is a fast-scanning active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar with ground moving target indicator (GMTI) with synthetic aperture radar imaging (SAR) modes. It can produce high-quality map-like images even through cloud cover, smoke, and dust, and also at night. Objects detected using the GMTI functionality can be overlaid on those images and changes in their positions can be tracked from one scan to the next. There have been previous reports, including one from The Washington Post just yesterday, about President Donald Trump's administration directing the CIA to take a larger role in the counter-drug fight south of the border, in general. The U.S. military has already publicly acknowledged an increase in aerial intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) activity on its end involving crewed aircraft in support of counter-drug and border security operations. This has involved flights in U.S. airspace along the southern border, as well as in international airspace around Mexico. 'We've … increased some uniquely military capabilities that will get after the point you make, the cartels, which are driving illegal migration, and that's primarily through airborne ISR to get more information on those and figure out how we can counter their actions,' U.S. Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee at a hearing last week. U.S. Navy P-8A Posiedon and Air Force RC-135V/W Rivet Joint aircraft have been tracked conducting these flights, as TWZ has previously reported. A separate past report from CNN says that U-2S Dragon Lady spy planes have been utilized, as well. 'We have a number of intel analysts that work with … lead federal agencies to provide intelligence that gets after the cartel networks that drive the production and distribution of Fentanyl and pushes it across the border,' Guillot also said during last week's hearing. In addition, 'we do have intelligence sharing with Mexico to show them what we see.' TWZ has previously highlighted how the use of more capable and strategic-focused aerial ISR platforms, especially the Rivet Joint, already represented a significant new development in operations around Mexico. The reported covert CIA drone flights inside Mexican airspace, especially if they are being conducted without any cooperation or coordination with authorities in that country, is another major escalatory step. 'It's part of this little campaign,' Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said today in response to questions about the reported CIA drone flights, but did not elaborate. Earlier this month, Sheinbaum directed the deployment of 10,000 additional military personnel to the border with the United States to help with counter-drug operations. 'We cannot rule out espionage because we do not know exactly what was done,' Mexican Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla said last week about the U.S. military's increased aerial ISR activity in U.S. and international airspace around his country. Today's reports from CNN and The New York Times both stress that the CIA drones flying over Mexico are not currently armed and that there are no immediate plans to use them to conduct strikes. However, the news can only prompt additional discussions about whether it might be a prelude to U.S. direct action against the cartels from the air and/or on the ground. The Trump administration is also working toward formally designating at least some of Mexico's drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, which would expand the scope of actions that U.S. authorities could take against them. Any direct action targeting Mexican drug cartels, especially without a new level of cooperation and trust with the Mexican government, would have major ramifications on both sides of the border. Striking any target from the air in a neighboring country you are not otherwise at war is a major escalation and it's unclear if the Trump administration will end up going that route. However, collecting key intelligence, including from covert CIA MQ-9 flights, would be a first step. As TWZ has previously wrote: 'Trump's first option would likely be airstrikes — with drones and/or standoff weapons being the most likely choice — for several reasons.' 'As we have previously reported, Mexico's increasingly well-armed drug cartels pose a serious threat to external forces. Some cartel units are extremely well-equipped and have adopted some of the latest features of warfare. They have been using drones to attack enemies for years now, for instance.' This is terrifying. Video released by the Mexican cartel and paramilitary group CJNG show the extent of militarization of their special forces. Scores of armed & kitted out fighters in standardized uniforms line a large convoy of up-armored troop transport vehicles and technicals — Hugo Kaaman (@HKaaman) July 18, 2020 'These organizations also often move around in increasingly well protected so called 'narco tanks.'' 'Cartels can also have defacto control over large areas with lots of support at the ready. Inner circles around key drug lords are among the most heavily defended and fortified positions in these areas, which makes them challenging targets. But the same 'find and fix' tactics that have been used to take out terrorists in the Middle East, especially with the help of drones, could potentially be brought to bear to help solve that problem. Unless Mexico agrees to their employment, they would not be operating in totally permissible airspace. While Mexico's air defenses are extremely rudimentary, this could still be an issue.' 'Any sort of ground raid without prior authority from Mexico raises the concern that any U.S. troops inadvertently left behind or otherwise captured could be without legal protection. That's why U.S. military deployments frequently take place with Status of Forces Agreements (SOFAs) giving military personnel and civilian contractors protection from being subject to unfair criminal or civil justice systems.' … 'While far less risky to U.S. troops, the downside of relying solely on airpower is the loss of valuable intelligence U.S. forces could gather on the ground to rapidly exploit, as they did in Afghanistan and Iraq.' Details about existing U.S. military activities on the ground in Mexico, understood to primarily revolve around advise and assist and training support type missions, are limited. Members of the U.S. Army's 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) reportedly just recently deployed to the country to help train members of the Mexican Marine Crops through the end of March. Mexico's Marines have now long been among the country's military units most heavily committed to the counter-drug fight. Whatever the Trump administration's exact plans to go after the cartels might be, the CIA already looks to have taken a leading role, including with its reported covert drone flights. Contact the author: joe@
