Members of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel are stocking up on heavy weapons to prepare for potential U.S. strikes, according to a new report.
The New York Times detailed that weapons include grenade launchers and anti-drone equipment, as cartel operatives believe that chances of being on the receiving end of a U.S. strike are not zero under the Donald Trump presidency.
The outlet added that cartels are also deploying scouts who are scanning the skies to spot drones. One member of La Mayiza, the cartel faction answering to the son of cartel co-founder Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, said concern is widespread.
So far, however, the Claudia Sheinbaum administration has flatly rejected any kind of U.S. intervention in the country. She last did so earlier this week when asked about statements from U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, who told Latin American leaders that Mexico was the epicenter of cartel violence in the region.
She highlighted that the two countries cooperate on security matters, but only Mexican forces execute operations in the country. "It's good that President Trump says publicly that when he proposed for the U.S. army to come into Mexico we said no. Because that's the truth. We said no and we proudly continue saying no," she added.
Trump appeared to hint hint at the possibility that the U.S. will conduct attacks against cartels in Mexico, telling Latin American counterparts last week that the U.S. government "will do whatever is necessary to defend our national security."
"The epicenter of cartel violence is Mexico. The Mexican cartels are fueling and orchestrating much of the bloodshed and chaos in this hemisphere," Trump said during the Shield of the Americas Summit. Sheinbaum did not take part in the event.
The topic was most recently part of the public conversation after the killing of ersation with U.S. counterpart Donald Trump about the operation that killed Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," the longtime leader of the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG).
He also sought to take steps regarding the matter during the Shield of the Americas Summit, signing a proclamation saying that "criminal cartels and foreign terrorist organizations in the Western Hemisphere should be demolished to the fullest extent possible consistent with applicable law."
The document goes on to say that the U.S. and its allies "should coordinate to deprive these organizations of any control of territory and access to financing or resources necessary to conduct their campaigns of violence."
Originally published on Latin Times
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