CIA, Mexico Criticize CNN Report Claiming US Directly Participated in Bombing of Cartels in Mexico

‘This is false and salacious reporting that serves as nothing more than a PR campaign for the cartels and puts American lives at risk,’ a CIA spokeswoman said.

A man walks across the CIA seal in the lobby of the agency headquarters in Langley, Va., on Aug. 14, 2008. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

The Central Intelligence Agency and Mexico are criticizing CNN for spreading false information after the news outlet published a report—citing anonymous sources—claiming that CIA operatives had directly participated in targeted killings as part of the U.S. intelligence agency’s alleged “secret war” against cartel members in Mexico.

The report, published on May 12, alleged that CIA Ground Branch officers had been present at or involved in targeted assassinations on mostly mid-level cartel members over the past year, including a March 28 vehicle explosion on a congested highway in Tecámac, in the State of Mexico just outside Mexico City, that killed Francisco Beltrán—known as “El Payín”—an alleged Sinaloa Cartel member, and his driver.