The CIA’s secret plan to eliminate terrorists leaked and it’s jaw dropping
America’s time of being pushed around is over. Now it’s time for us to go on the offensive.
And the CIA’s secret plan to eliminate terrorists leaked and it’s jaw dropping.
The CIA is quietly exploring its legal power to target drug traffickers funneling lethal fentanyl and other narcotics into the U.S., as the Trump administration intensifies its battle against the opioid crisis.
This internal review—described as a fact-finding effort rather than a directive from President Trump to eliminate smugglers—aims to clarify “what kinds of activities it could legally undertake and what the potential risks would be across the suite of options,” according to CNN, which cited an unnamed official and three individuals familiar with the discussions.
The evaluation follows the Trump administration’s bold move in February to designate eight Latin American cartels, including six Mexican groups, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations for their roles in drug and human trafficking.
This terrorist label unlocks a range of aggressive tools for the White House, including “enhanced counterterrorism authorities” that could enable Trump to green-light covert operations against these groups.
The CIA opted not to comment on the matter.
Recent weeks have seen a surge in Republican rhetoric about striking cartels with deadly force, sparked by Trump’s March 4 address, where he proclaimed, “It’s time for America to wage war on the cartels.”
The conversation took a dramatic turn when Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) pressed two senior military officials on why the U.S. isn’t “just k*lling” Chinese traffickers supplying fentanyl precursors to the Western Hemisphere.
“In your professional military opinion — put aside everything, policy — as an admiral, if we just started k*lling these people that are k*lling Americans (through drug overdoses) — 250,000, 300,000 Americans; about the amount of people that died in World War II — why aren’t we just k*lling these people?” Van Orden asked pointedly.
The response was straightforward: the military lacks the authority to shoot smugglers on sight. Yet, such restrictions could shift, and agencies like the CIA might operate under fewer constraints.
With Mexico’s consent, the CIA is already deploying drones to monitor cartel activities deep within the country. Meanwhile, about 4,000 U.S. troops are stationed along the southern border—a 1,500-troop increase since Trump’s inauguration in January.
Though CIA drones are currently limited to surveillance, a March 5 Atlantic Council report suggests the administration’s growing focus on cartels could signal a shift toward more lethal measures.
“The rapid speed and scale of these apparent foreign counteroffensive preparations, arguably not seen since the early stages of the War on Terror, may indicate that the United States is on the verge of direct military action, either unilaterally or with the Mexican military, against cartels on Mexican soil,” the report noted.
Deploying the military to hunt narcoterrorists might require Congress to pass an Authorization for Use of Military Force, enabling operations under Title 10 of the U.S. Code.
Alternatively, Trump could bypass Congress for speed and secrecy, leveraging Title 50 to order CIA-led covert actions, the Atlantic Council explained.
“In this scenario, Trump would issue a presidential finding that authorizes the CIA to conduct covert actions against the cartels,” the report outlined. “From there, CIA paramilitary officers or special forces units, typically under Joint Special Operations Command, would be used to carry out the secret operations.”
“Trump has historically favored covert operations in counterterrorism efforts against al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), making this a more likely scenario,” it concluded.
