Mexico’s Security Cabinet has rejected DEA Administrator Terry Cole’s assertion that there is a “deadly connection” between the Mexican government and drug cartels, saying there is no basis for his claim.
Cole, head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration since July 2025, made the assertion on Tuesday at the DEA Fentanyl Free America Summit in Orlando, Florida. The claim is reminiscent of the White House’s assertion in early 2025 that “Mexican drug trafficking organizations have an intolerable alliance with the government of Mexico.”
According to Reuters, Cole also said that the Mexican government and cartel networks are “one … [and] the same.”
The DEA chief said last month that combating Mexican cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, was “priority number one of the DEA.”
In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, the federal Security Cabinet — whose members include Mexico’s defense, Navy and security ministers as well as the head of the National Guard — noted that Cole had asserted that there is a “connection” between cartels and the Mexican government.
“The assertions made are unfounded and don’t correspond to the results in the fight against criminal organizations that the Mexican government has presented in a public and verifiable way,” the Security Cabinet said.
El Gabinete de Seguridad informa: pic.twitter.com/qgsWJPbs6Q
— Gabinete de Seguridad de México (@GabSeguridadMX) July 14, 2026
The cabinet, which holds 6 a.m. meetings every weekday to discuss security issues with President Claudia Sheinbaum, subsequently outlined the security results presented at Sheinbaum’s Tuesday morning press conference. Between Oct. 1, 2024, when the current government took office, and June 30, 2026, authorities have:
- Arrested 59,582 people for allegedly committing high-impact crimes such as murder, kidnapping and extortion.
- Confiscated 31,366 firearms.
- Seized 498 tonnes of drugs, including 2.36 tonnes of fentanyl.
- Dismantled 2,627 clandestine drug labs.
“Among the people detained are leaders, operators and generators of violence belonging to all criminal organizations and structures, without any distinction, demonstrating that the actions of the Mexican state are based on investigations and in accordance with the law,” the Security Cabinet said.
“Furthermore, investigations have reached public servants linked to criminal activities. As a result of Operación Enjambre [Operation Swarm] and other actions, more than 80 current and former public servants, including seven sitting mayors, have been arrested, confirming that in the government of Mexico there is no protection for anybody who engages in unlawful conduct,” it said.
The Security Cabinet also highlighted the reduction in homicides under the leadership of Sheinbaum, who rejected Cole’s remarks at her Wednesday morning press conference.
“From September 2024 to June 2026, the daily average of homicides declined 48%,” the cabinet said, referring to the murder rate last month compared to that in the final month of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s presidency.
“… Bilateral cooperation mechanisms have yielded results in the fight against organized crime. As evidence of this, generators of violence have been detained including priority targets wanted by U.S. authorities,” the Security Cabinet said.
“The government of Mexico maintains its willingness to strengthen bilateral cooperation with the United States under the principles of respect for sovereignty, mutual trust, shared responsibility and coordination, with the common objective of combating transnational criminal organizations and protecting the security of both nations.”
Cole’s assertion and the Security Cabinet’s response come at a time when the Mexico-U.S. security relationship is strained due to a range of reasons. These include the CIA’s alleged participation in a drug lab raid in Chihuahua in April without the knowledge or authorization of the Mexican government, and U.S. prosecutors’ request for the arrest of Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, an ally of Sheinbaum, and various other current and former officials accused of drug trafficking in league with the Sinaloa Cartel.
In a speech at a May 31 rally in Mexico City, Sheinbaum railed against U.S. interference in Mexican affairs, declaring that Mexico is “a free, independent and sovereign country” and “not anyone’s piñata.”
More recently, another pressure point in the bilateral security relationship emerged after independent media outlet Pie de Nota reported that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation had admitted involvement in the capture of Sinaloa Cartel drug kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada on Mexican soil.
Sheinbaum — who sees unauthorized U.S. operations and actions in Mexico as a violation of Mexican sovereignty — has suggested the U.S. government made a pact with “members of organized crime” to carry out the capture of Zambada, who was flown to the United States on a light aircraft alongside Joaquín Guzmán López, who in a court appearance in Chicago last December admitted to orchestrating the kidnapping of “El Mayo.”
Mexico News Daily
