US Sent Manned Planes to Mexico To Capture Members of Organized Crime [Video]

After U.S. agent Jaime Zapata was murdered in 2011 in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí, the United States government carried out intelligence interventions in Mexico, according to Mexican newspaper Milenio.

According to reports, American authorities sent manned airplanes to help Mexican police in the capture of some of the most wanted criminals. The report also described the covert operation, which started in 2011 after the murder of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata and which is under the command of the Pentagon's Northern Command.

The director of the DEA's Intelligence Center in El Paso, Texas, Phil Jordan, told Fox that the intelligence strategy "has been successful in the identification, elimination or processing of those bringing tons of drugs into the United States." The newspaper added that during the last seven years the Mexican drug war has left close to 60,000 dead and thousands missing.

Vocativ reported that "as the death toll rose the Pentagon decided to launch an unprecedented intelligence operation. The military began a series of surveillance missions inside Mexican airspace using equipment and techniques refined in Iraq and Afghanistan."

According to the website, the report explained that the manned planes leave from Texas, cross the Mexican border to carry out reconnaissance missions "on behavior pattern." American pilots observe the schedules of their targets with planes equipped with the latest in technology that are "capable of tracking a suspect from ten kilometers away."

Meanwhile, Fox also reported that these operations are not risk-free. The network reminded their viewers of the American planes carrying out surveillance in Colombia that crashed.