U.S. drug czar Sara Carter highlighted on Saturday the enhanced security collaboration between the United States and Mexico, citing the operation against the now-deceased Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes as an example of the close bilateral cooperation.

In an interview with The Epoch Times’ program “American Thought Leaders,” the director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) said that Mexico’s operation against Oseguera in Jalisco earlier this year was carried out at the behest of the U.S. government and using U.S. intelligence.

🔴“Si no cooperas con nosotros, vamos por ustedes y se van a arrepentir”, advierte Sara Carter, directora de la Oficina de Política Nacional de Control de Drogas de Estados Unidos.

Aseguró que la administración de Donald Trump mantiene en la mira a funcionarios mexicanos… pic.twitter.com/NvfAzpmYpW

— Azucena Uresti (@azucenau) June 14, 2026

Speaking to The Epoch Times’ Jan Jekielek, Carter said that the U.S. government is “working closely” with its counterparts, including the Mexican government, to combat drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere.

“We saw significant progress in Mexico, especially with El Mencho, with CJNG, when we were able to go after El Mencho,” she said, referring to the Feb. 22 Mexican military operation in Jalisco in which the cartel leader was shot, sustaining injuries that caused his death.

“And we did that through our intelligence, but utilizing the Mexican National Guard, the Mexican special forces, you know [Mexican Defense Minister] General Trevilla, his operation,” Carter said.

“They cooperated with us. We said, ‘Look, here’s the information, go get him.’ And they did. And we’d never seen that before, not like that, not in that same way, not with that cooperation,” she said.

Carter is not the first Trump administration official to highlight the closeness of the current security collaboration between the United States and Mexico. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last September that security cooperation between the United States and Mexico during the second Trump administration was “the closest … we have ever had, maybe with any country.”

However, the bilateral security relationship has recently been strained due to the CIA’s alleged participation in a drug lab raid alongside Chihuahua state police without the knowledge or authorization of the Mexican government, and U.S. prosecutors’ drug trafficking accusations against Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya — an ally of President Claudia Sheinbaum — and nine other current and former Sinaloa-based officials.

Carter: ‘The Mexican government knows that President Trump means what he says’

Carter highlighted that U.S. prosecutors are “targeting the folks in Sinaloa,” people she said are “government officials that are part of the Culiacán clan, … that have protected the Sinaloa Cartel and Los Chapitos and Los Mayitos [cartel factions] and, you know, Joaquín Guzmán’s entire operation, El Chapo’s entire operation.”

She didn’t acknowledge that Rocha and the other accused officials, including the mayor of Culiacán and a Morena party senator, have not been convicted of the charges they face. The Sinaloa governor and other defendants deny any wrongdoing.

While Mexican authorities have not arrested any of the accused officials, citing a lack of proof from their U.S. counterparts, Carter said that the U.S. was able to “target” them because “the Mexican government, like many of the governments in our hemisphere, know[s] that President Trump means what he says.”

“He just absolutely does,” said the ONDCP chief, referring to the U.S. president.

“If he said, ‘We are going after you. If you do not cooperate with us, we are going to target you and you are going to regret it. So do you want to cooperate? Yes or no?'” Carter said, purporting to paraphrase Trump.

“And I think also, beyond that, it’s what’s good for them and they know it too,” she said.

Sheinbaum brushes off Trump’s cartel threats: Thursday’s mañanera recapped

Carter’s remarks came after Trump said last month that the United States would take action against cartels in Mexico if the Mexican government doesn’t do so itself. Sheinbaum noted on May 7 that it wasn’t the first time that the U.S. president had made such a statement, and indicated that she was not overly concerned by it because her government is “acting” against cartels and drug trafficking.

Indeed, federal authorities have arrested well over 50,000 people for allegedly committing high-impact crimes since Sheinbaum took office in October 2024, and more than 90 cartel figures have been sent to the United States in three separate transfers.

In addition, hundreds of tonnes of narcotics have been seized during the current Mexican administration, over 2,000 drug labs have been dismantled, homicides have declined significantly and U.S. statistics indicate that the quantity of drugs being smuggled into the United States from Mexico has declined.

Carter: Cartels ‘have no regard for human life’

Among other remarks in a lengthy interview with The Epoch Times, Carter said that FBI Director Kash Patel is right in his assertion that criminal groups can be combated if authorities “follow the money.”

“Yes, Director Patel, he’s right — follow the money. Follow the money and then take the money. What do the cartels want more than anything? They want power and money,” she said.

“That is what keeps them alive. That’s their heartbeat — their power and their money. And they’re vicious. They have no regard for human life,” Carter said, referring to cartels such as the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel, both of which have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government.

“They have no regard for the nation states that they operate in. And we have to be just as tough on them, if not tougher. And that means taking and seizing their financing. And by the way doing what we’re doing right now in Mexico — targeting those that are even in the government, that have sold out to the cartels, that have made it easier for them to operate,” she said.

U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche indicated last month that U.S. prosecutors would file more charges against Mexican politicians in addition to Rocha and the nine other officials accused of drug trafficking in the same U.S. indictment.

The Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month that the United States is also investigating Sonora Governor Alfonso Durazo and Tamaulipas Governor Américo Villarreal Anaya — both of whom are affiliated with the ruling Morena party — for alleged criminal offenses. However, no charges against the two governors have been announced.

Sheinbaum: ‘I don’t want to get into an argument with her’

At Sheinbaum’s Monday morning press conference, a reporter described Carter’s assertion that Mexico cooperates with the United States because of pressure from Trump as “unfortunate.”

In response, Sheinbaum said she didn’t want to “get into an argument” with Carter, who had been scheduled to meet with the president last month but didn’t end up making the trip to Mexico.

🇺🇸🇲🇽 La presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum descarta entrar en debate con Sara Carter, funcionaria estadounidense encargada de temas antidrogas, después de que afirmara en una entrevista que Estados Unidos colaboró en el abatimiento de “El Mencho”. pic.twitter.com/7kzidLiC17

— Animal Político (@Pajaropolitico) June 15, 2026

She said that the United States knows Mexico’s position with regard to security collaboration.

“Our position is very firm in the defense of sovereignty, in collaboration without subordination,” Sheinbaum said.

“That is our position and it always will be,” she said.

Sheinbaum didn’t address Carter’s claim that Mexico carried out the operation against Oseguera at the behest of the United States. Shortly after the operation, the U.S. government said it had provided intelligence to Mexico to “assist” it.

Mexico News Daily