The CIA played a key role in the capture of Mexican drug lord Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes last week, but that operation was just one part of a broader expansion of U.S. anti-narcotics efforts across Latin America.
Support for President Donald Trump’s intensified campaign against drug cartels marks a significant shift for several governments in the region. Countries including Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador have recently increased enforcement actions and strengthened cooperation with the United States.
Just one day after a closed-door meeting at the White House on Feb. 3, Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered a military strike against narco-terrorists operating in his country. The operation killed seven members of the National Liberation Army (ELN), a guerrilla group that controls key drug-producing territories.
“Colombia has ramped up counter-narcotic activities after taking a very different approach during the first three years of the Petro administration,” said Latin America policy expert Andres Martinez Fernandez. The move represents a sharp contrast to last October, when President Trump imposed sanctions on Petro over alleged drug-related concerns.
Regional leaders are also believed to have been influenced by the U.S. military operation in January that resulted in the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in Caracas.
In Bolivia, newly elected President Rodrigo Paz announced this week that the country has welcomed the return of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The renewed partnership includes intelligence sharing, officer training and operational coordination targeting drug trafficking — ending a 17-year diplomatic freeze.
“The Drug Enforcement Agency is in Bolivia,” Interior Minister Marco Oviedo told local reporters on Feb. 23, adding that Bolivia is also cooperating with European intelligence and police agencies.
Paz, a centrist from the Christian Democratic Party, succeeded the long-ruling Movement for Socialism (MAS). Under former President Evo Morales, Bolivia’s relationship with Washington deteriorated significantly after Morales expelled DEA agents and the U.S. ambassador.
Morales had promoted a “coca yes, cocaine no” policy that expanded legal coca cultivation. As a result, Bolivia became the world’s third-largest cocaine producer, according to United Nations data.
Retired U.S. Army Colonel Daniel Gerstein, who previously worked in anti-narcotics operations in the region, said Bolivia is now attempting to repair ties with Washington after years of strained relations.
While Bolivian officials have emphasized that no foreign troops are stationed on their soil, the situation differs in neighboring Ecuador.
In December, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa requested assistance from the U.S. Air Force for anti-narcotics operations, describing the crisis as part of a “transnational war” against cartels. Noboa argued that expanded cooperation would help dismantle trafficking routes and restore order.
Ecuador, once considered one of Latin America’s safest nations, has in recent years become a major transit hub for cocaine produced in Colombia and Peru en route to the United States. Powerful gangs have seized control of prisons, ports and neighborhoods, driving record levels of violence. In 2025, the country recorded approximately 9,000 homicides, its deadliest year on record.
Much of the cocaine moving north from South America ultimately passes through Mexico. Under previous Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, cooperation with the U.S. on cartel enforcement was limited.
As recently as last August, President Claudia Sheinbaum had taken a similar position, emphasizing Mexico’s sovereignty amid discussions about potential U.S. drone operations targeting traffickers. However, policy coordination between the two nations has intensified in recent months.
That shift culminated in the death of El Mencho, one of Mexico’s most wanted cartel leaders.
“Mexico, with significant prompting from the United States, is taking more substantial action on narcotics trafficking in the past few months than it did over the preceding six years combined,” Fernandez said.
The operation was directed by Mexico’s Secretary of Security, Omar García Harfuch, who has played a central role in strengthening bilateral cooperation. In March 2025, Harfuch met with FBI Director Kash Patel in Washington, D.C., following the extradition of 29 wanted individuals to the United States.
Harfuch has received training from both the DEA and the FBI and is aligned with President Trump’s objective of stopping fentanyl trafficking into the U.S.
A spokesperson for the Department of Defense’s Northern Command said the U.S. is “expanding and enhancing our trusted partnership with Mexico through military-to-military engagements, operational coordination, intelligence and information sharing,” referring to the Mexican-led operation that relied on U.S. intelligence support.
Since President Trump designated major cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations last year, Mexico has extradited approximately 100 suspected cartel leaders to face prosecution in the United States.
“President Trump promised to take on the cartels — and he has delivered by designating these criminal entities as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, disrupting drug shipments bound for our country, arresting Nicolás Maduro, and more,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.
“The President will always do everything in his power to protect our homeland from brutal terrorists who threaten American citizens.”