Washington. According to current and former US officials, the administration of President Donald Trump began planning an operation to send troops and intelligence officers to Mexico to combat drug cartels, according to NBC.

According to sources, the initial stages of training have begun for a mission that includes ground incursions into Mexican territory to target drug labs and cartel leaders. However, the deployment south of the U.S. border is not imminent, the outlet reported.

Most of the U.S. troops belong to the Joint Special Operations Command and would operate under the authority of the U.S. intelligence community, pursuant to Title 50, according to two officials. They added that CIA agents would also be part of the operation.

In that regard, NBC highlighted that the possible incursion of US forces to attack drug cartels within Mexico would open a new front in Trump's military campaign against drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere.