PDB Afternoon Bulletin | February 18th, 2025: CIA Reaper Drones Over Mexico & Border Crossings Collapse

41.449 - 55.936 Mike Baker

It's Tuesday, 18 February. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Alright, let's get briefed. We'll start things off with a major escalation in the fight against the cartels.

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According to reports, President Trump has the CIA, the Central Intelligence Agency, flying covert drone missions over Mexico, using the same Reaper drones deployed in the War on Terror. Later in the show, migrant shelters that once housed nearly a thousand people a day are now nearly empty as Trump's border crackdown sharply reduces border crossings. But first, today's afternoon spotlight.

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In der neuesten Beweisung, dass die Trump-Administration den Kampf gegen die Drogenkartelle nimmt, hat die CIA kräftige Drohnen-Missionen tief in Mexiko gefahren. Diese Flugzeuge, die von den so genannten MQ-9-Reaper-Drohnen ausgestattet werden, bemerken einen bedeutenden Wandel in den US-Narkotik-Operationen.

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Und sie sind unter dem Radar geschehen, ohne öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit von Washington oder Mexiko-City. Now, credit where it's due, CNN first broke this story, citing sources familiar with the program. But let's take a step back and look at this from the 30,000-foot level, or whatever altitude the drones are flying.

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For years, the US has fought the cartels indirectly, through partnerships with Mexican authorities, DEA-led investigations and law enforcement operations along the southern border. But now, under the new US administration, we're seeing a clear effort to treat these cartels more like terrorist organizations.

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And as we reported here on the PDB, Trump officially designated them as foreign terrorist organizations in one of his first acts as president. And that designation is already reshaping US strategy. Hier ist, was wir wissen. Die CIA-Drohnen sind momentan unbearmt. Dies sind die MQ-9-Reepers, die gleichen, die für präzisierte Angriffe gegen ISIS und Al-Qaida verwendet werden.

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Die MQ-9-Reeper kann mit einer Vielzahl von präzisierten Waffen gearmt werden, z.B. Hellfire-Missilen, lasergeführte Bomben und die GPS-geführte Joint Direct Attack Munition oder JDAM, wie Sie es gehört haben.

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Die Drohne ist für sowohl Beobachtungs- als auch Angriffsmissionen ausgestattet, und sie ist ein wichtiger Aspekt in den US-Kontraterrorismus-Operationen, die sich mit Pinpoint-Akkuraten auf die Gegner konzentrieren können.

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The Trump administration has already made it clear that it's willing to use counterterrorism tactics against the cartels. In fact, just last month, when signing an executive order ramping up those efforts, Trump was asked about sending special forces into Mexico. His response? Well, it was, quote, could happen, stranger things have happened, end quote. Hmm, that's ambiguous.

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So, how is Mexico reacting to all of this? Well, so far, it's been, I suppose you could describe it as a mix of silence and unease. Mexico's President, Claudia Scheinbaum, and other top officials have been quick to emphasize that American military surveillance flights along the border have remained in international airspace.

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But when asked about reports of these covert CIA drone missions flown inside Mexican airspace, Mexico's defense minister admitted he wasn't aware of them. He also suggested, rather bluntly, that he couldn't rule out espionage. Meanwhile, Mexico's foreign ministry hasn't responded at all. This puts Scheinbaums government in a tough spot.

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