The DEA’s Statement Is Political; It Should Address Consumption in Its Own Country: Sheinbaum

ByRomina Gándara

This article by Romina Gándara originally appeared in the July 15, 2026 edition of SinEmbargo, an independent Mexican digital news outlet.

President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (CSP) responded on Wednesday to the statements by the director of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Terrance C. Cole, who claimed yesterday that a “deadly connection” exists between the drug-trafficking cartels and the Mexican government, a stance the president called “very unfortunate,” asserting that it responds to political motivations.

“It seems to me a very unfortunate statement, for several reasons. First, because it seems to me more a political statement than a substantiated one. There is no basis for what he is saying,” the head of the Federal Executive maintained during her morning press conference.

Sheinbaum’s rebuttal comes after the U.S. official, during his participation in the plenary session of the Fentanyl Free America summit, also asserted that organized crime and the Mexican authorities “are one and the same” in the context of the fentanyl crisis his nation faces.