US military planes may have spied drug cartels during recent flights near Mexican territory, the government said Tuesday.
Mexico was aware of two such U.S. military flights in late January and early February that took place in international airspace, Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla said at a news conference.
Asked whether the plane had spied on Mexican drug traffickers, the general said: “We can't rule it out because we don't know what they did.”
The plane that Mexico observed flying near its territory did not violate national airspace and kept its tracking devices on, in accordance with international regulations, Trevilla said.
Any intelligence collected on Mexican territory must be shared within the framework of agreements between the two countries, he said.
CNN reported As of Monday, the US military had “significantly increased” its aerial surveillance of cartels over the past two weeks. He said spy planes, including Navy P-8s, had flown at least 18 missions over U.S. territory and in international airspace around Mexico's Baja California peninsula, passing near the cartel stronghold of Sinaloa on one occasion.
One of President Trump's first actions after taking office in January was to designate drug cartels as terrorist organizations.
Mexico this month began sending more troops to its northern border to combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking under a deal that will Mr. Trump suspends tariffs on Mexican products.
Earlier this month, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected with anger an accusation from the United States that its government has an alliance with drug cartels.
“We categorically reject the slander launched by the White House against the Mexican government regarding its alliances with criminal organizations,” Sheinbaum said. wrote on social networks.
“If there is such an alliance anywhere, it is in the American armories which sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups,” she added.
Last month, Sheinbaum officially launched a campaign to combat the number of guns on the nation's streets.
The plan, titled “Yes to Disarmament, Yes to Peace,” offers money to those who anonymously drop off weapons at designated drop-off locations, including churches.
Gun owners will receive 8,700 pesos ($430) for a revolver, 25,000 pesos ($1,200) for an AK-47 rifle and 26,450 pesos ($1,300) for a machine gun. The firearms must then be destroyed.
