Mexican commandos are organizing raids against drug cartels from U.S. territory, according to Obama administration officials. These so-called boomerang operations allow the Mexicans to plan operations with the DEA, and may allow the Mexicans access to advanced U.S. equipment. Crucially, the operations also skirt venal state and local police in northern Mexico—thought to be lookouts and informants for the drug gangs.
While U.S. officials will not disclose operational specifics or link the boomerang ops to any arrests, they are clear that no U.S. personnel enter Mexico: “These are not joint operations,” said one senior administration official. “They are self-contained Mexican operations where staging areas were provided by the United States.”
The DEA first encouraged boomerang operations in the 1990s in order to crack down on the Tijuana Cartel. Back then Mexican operators were briefed on missions by the DEA only minutes before launching quick-strike raids from Camp Pendleton in San Diego. It proved to be an effective strategy, according to former DEA officials interviewed by the New York Times.
Only a small number of boomerang operations have been conducted since the Calderón-Obama version commenced sometime in the past eighteen months. But it is one more sign that the U.S. government recognizes the drug gangs have global networks and must be combated in new ways. Earlier this year the Obama and Calderón governments acknowledged that U.S. drones ply the skies of Mexico, gathering intelligence about drug factories and smuggling routes. Unconfirmed reports indicate there are also two “fusion cells”—Mexican black ops with U.S. advisors—working in Mexico.
U.S. hand in slaying the drug gangs in Mexico is bringing criticism, as it should. The Mexican-American War of 1846 still causes Mexicans to bristle at any slight of sovereignty. (The war is arguably the clearest example of U.S. imperialism since 1783.) And hints that the Pentagon is ready to show off “lessons learned” from Af-Pak, through drone strikes and other forms of covert action, irks many.
Hopefully criticisms of U.S. involvement in the drug war will continue from both sides of the border. The sovereignty of the nation-state demands it. Hopefully the U.S. will too continue helping Mexico devise ways to slay the drug gangs. The reality of transnational crime demands it.
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