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PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 11th, 2025: The CIA’s Secret Cartel Hunters In Mexico & Trump’s Plan To Squeeze Russia
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Mike Baker
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Foreign.
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Mike Baker
It's Thursday 11th September 9 11, the 24th anniversary of that fateful and tragic day. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, the CIA's covert war in Mexico. Reuters reveals how America's spy agency is secretly training elite Mexican units to to hunt cartel bosses. I'll have the details later in the show. President Trump pushes the European Union to slap tariffs on Chinese and Indian goods, part of his effort to squeeze Russia over the war in Ukraine. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. Reuters is pulling back the curtain on a fight that most Americans didn't even know was happening. A covert war just across the US Southern border. Their investigation reveals that the CIA has been quietly training and directing elite Mexican units tasked with hunting down the country's most dangerous drug lords. And what Reuters uncovered is how the agency brought its war on terror toolkit into Mexico's drug war. In CIA speak, it's called find, fix, finish. In plain English, it means find the target, lock them down so they can't escape, and then move in to capture or terminate. It's the same strategy that the agency used against terrorists after 9 11. And now it's being turned on Mexico's cartels. Let's start in January of 2023. Helicopter gunships roared over rural Sinaloa as Mexican soldiers closed in on Ovidio Guzman Lopez. He's the son of drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. The Mexican army carried out the raid, but the CIA was behind the curtain. The agency had built a detailed targeting package, surveillance intercepts, insider tips, intel from a cartel associate who had flipped the unit. Also that ultimately stormed Ovidio's hideout was wasn't just any Mexican force. It was a group that was trained, equipped and vetted by the CIA. Known as gain. In English, the Drug Trafficking Information Analysis Group. The operation was a major success. Ovidio was captured, extradited to the US and pled guilty to drug trafficking charges. But let's rewind to 2019 and the picture looked very different. That same CIA backed unit grabbed Ovidio once before, only to be surrounded by by hundreds of cartel gunmen in the streets of Kulikan. The Mexican president at the time ordered his release to prevent mass civilian deaths. That fiasco showed the world just how powerful the cartels had become and just how dangerous the fight against them had become. So you ask, how does this partnership actually work? Well, according to more than 60American and Mexican officials interviewed by Reuters, the CIA provides advanced training, surveillance technology, money, and even polygraph tests for the troops that it selects. Today, there are at least two such CIA vetted units in Mexico. One in the army, another in the Navy. They're some of the most capable and trusted forces in the country. Inside the US Embassy in Mexico City. Well, the seating chart tells the story. CIA analysts sit on the ambassador's floor. DEA and Homeland Security agents, well, they're one floor below. But here's the hard truth. Even with these tactical wins, the bigger picture remains grim. Mexico still records around 30,000 murders a year, much of it cartel related. And on the US Side of the border, fentanyl has fueled a death toll of 50 to 75,000Americans every single year. The Kingman strategy, knocking off cartel bosses has often backfired, splintering groups into rival factions and sparking bloody wars. As one former CIA officer told Reuters, sicario is a good movie, but bad policy. Drugs are a consumption problem, not a production problem. We can't just kill our way out of this. End quote. Although, frankly, it doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a good faith effort. Politically, the stakes are rising. The Trump administration has labeled several Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and floated the idea of unilateral US Military strikes. Mexico's new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has promised stepped up cooperation against the cartels. But she's also drawn a red line. No U.S. boots on the ground in Mexico. Still, the CIA's role in the fight against the cartels is expanding. Langley has stood up a new America's encounternarcotics Mission center, reassigned counterterrorism veterans to Mexico, and increased drone flights over cartel territory. The agency is moving resources south of the border as if this were the next front in the war on terror. And the hunt continues for more kingpins. Another of El Chapo's sons, Ivan Archibald Del Guzman, was remains at large. Earlier this year, Mexican commandos working with the CIA nearly caught him. But true to his family's tradition, he slipped away through a tunnel. Oh, like father, like son. So where does this leave us? The CIA secret war has scored Impressive victories, cartel bosses captured, organizations disrupted. But the strategic outcome is murkier. Overdose deaths in the US Remain high and cartel violence in Mexico continues to claim many lives. Covert operations can capture or terminate high value targets. But the larger fight goes beyond raids in Sinaloa. It's about shutting off cartel financing, cracking down on precursor shipments, and pressuring a Mexican state that's often been compromised. Alright, coming up next, Trump leans on the European Union to target Beijing and New Delhi with tariffs of up to 100%, a move aimed at cutting off lifelines to Putin's economy. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let me take a moment to talk. Personal finances, that's a pretty important topic. Now, the cost of everything, as you may have noticed, is a bit out of control. And many folks are now relying on credit cards to cover some of those essentials. Gas bills, utility bills, groceries, you know what I'm talking about. And if that debt is piling up for you, well, you're not alone. Americans collectively owe, get this, over $1 trillion in credit card debt. So here's the thing. By now, you might have considered reaching out to my friends over at American Financing, but you hesitated because you don't want to give up your low mortgage rate. Well, there is good news. They've created what's called the Smart Equity Loan. It's a solution designed to help you take control of your finances without touching your current mortgage. Unlike a heloc, which can have varied interest rates, the Smart Equity Loan offers a fixed rate that means one predictable monthly payment, giving you peace of mind. Now, the loan allows you to leverage the equity in your home to pay off high interest debt, free up your cash flow and keep your existing low mortgage rate intact. It only takes 10 minutes to get started with no upfront or hidden fees. Call American Financing today and start saving. Now, the number is 866-885-1881. Again, that's 866-885-1881 or 2 or visit American financing.net PDB Mike Baker here. Now, let me take just a moment of your time to talk about protecting your hard earned assets. Now, let me ask you a question. When you look at the inflation numbers or when you hear that the national debt in the US is over $37 trillion, or you just look around and see all the global uncertainty, do you ever think to yourself, maybe now would be a good time to buy some gold? Well, that would be a logical thought. You see, whether as a hedge against inflation, maybe peace of mind during global instability, or just for sensible diversification. Gold has always been considered a safe haven and Birch Gold Group believes that every American should own physical gold and so they've created something special until the 30th of September, the end of this month. 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Mike Baker
Welcome back to the PDB Afternoon Edition. President Trump is pressing the European Union to go beyond its comfort zone, demanding tariffs of up to 100% on Chinese and Indian goods in a request aimed at choking the Kremlin's war machine, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Two EU officials confirmed the ask delivered on Tuesday when Trump dialed into a Washington meeting of U.S. and EU sanctions officials. @ one point, the commander in chief floated a 50% tariff. At another point, he pushed to double it. Either way, the message from the Oval Office has been clear. Punish China for bankrolling Russia. Punish India for buying the Kremlin's cheap oil, or watch the West's unified front crumble and with it the leverage that comes from Washington and Brussels acting together. The push game is Washington and Brussels resumed talks on Russian sanctions for the first time since Trump returned to the White House. Yet Brussels is unlikely to fall in line with Trump's demands. One senior EU official made it plain the tariffs aren't in the Bloc's sanctions playbook Negotiators remain focused instead on their 19th sanctions package, which that would blacklist more Russian entities and perhaps a handful of Chinese firms. And yes, the EU has sanctioned several Chinese and Indian companies and banks in recent months. But further steps such as Trump's suggestions are considered too risky for the bloc. At the same time, the EU pursues a free trade deal with New Delhi and braces for possible Beijing retaliation. As we've tracked here on the pdb, Trump has set and reset sanctions deadlines for Moscow, only to step back before the hammer dropped. But Washington has already slapped tariffs on Indian refined products made from Russian oil, proof that the president is willing to act unilaterally if Europe drags its feet. But there's still no specific plan or timeline for the White House to enact more aggressive sanctions on Russia or to slap secondary tariffs on China for their purchase of Russian oil. Now, Brussels isn't entirely shutting the door to Trump's demands. In her annual State of the Union address on Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von de Leyen signaled her own appetite for escalation, vowing, quote, we need more sanctions on Russia. We are particularly looking at phasing out Russian fossil fuels faster, the shadow fleet and third countries, end quote. Brussels has already targeted the Kremlin so called shadow fleet of tankers ferrying illicit crude and is still committed to phasing out Russian fossil fuels entirely by 2027. But the bloc is moving gingerly, wary of trade ruptures with Beijing and New Delhi that could cripple the EU's economy. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Thursday 11 September. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me@pdbthefirsttv.com and to listen to the show ad free. Just become a premium member of the President's Daily brief by visiting pdbpremium.com it's really very simple. I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. Hey Mike Baker here. Let me take just a moment to talk about your health. Right, there's nothing more important than your personal health. Now by the time the Average person hits 60, did you know this is interesting that many have lost and then regained several hundred pounds. Can you believe that? Do doctors call it weight cycling? And reportedly half of Americans do it. And if you do it enough, well, you're at risk of diabetes, liver damage, heart attack and stroke. Weight cycling is when you lose £10 or so, but then you put the pounds back on and maybe a couple more. And that puts tremendous strain on your organs and can lead to serious health issues. The bottom line is most people need help to stop weight cycling and here is a great way to get that help. I'm talking about non prescription Lean L E A N Lean. It was created by doctors. Lean's an oral supplement. It's, it's not an injectable and the science is impressive. Its studied ingredients help to target weight loss in three powerful ways. Lean helps maintain healthy blood sugar. It helps control appetite and cravings, and it helps burn fat by converting it to energy and burning fat. Well, that helps keep the weight off. If you want to lose meaningful weight at a healthy pace and keep it off, just add lean to your diet and exercise lifestyle. Get 20% off when you enter PDP@takelean.com Again, that's code PDB@takelean.com.