Mike Baker

One of those options, discussed openly inside the administration, is the use of drone strikes against suspected fentanyl labs.

According to Scheinbaum, that would violate Mexican sovereignty, but the mere fact that it's being discussed does add urgency to the talks.

Now, as an aside, operationally, fentanyl labs are notoriously difficult to find.

They emit very few chemical emissions and are often hidden in dense urban areas, pushing US efforts toward tracking precursor chemicals instead.

A covert drone program that began under the Biden administration has rapidly expanded since Trump returned to office, tracing those supply chains and feeding intelligence to Mexican units that carry out the raids.

Under the new proposal, U.S.

personnel would no longer stop at that handoff.

As we've long discussed on the podcast, fentanyl remains the leading cause of overdose deaths in the U.S., and most drugs continue to enter through the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.

Just last year, the White House designated fentanyl a, quote, weapon of mass destruction and labeled several Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

So that leaves Scheinbaum navigating a somewhat narrow path.

Either accept U.S.

demands for joint operations and risk political and domestic backlash, or reject them outright and risk being sidelined if Washington acts unilaterally.

And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon Bulletin for Thursday, the 15th of January.

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I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow.

Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.