The group is run by Eric Geressy, a retired U.S. soldier who previously served as the top enlisted service member in U.S. Southern Command, which oversees operations in Central and South America. Defense officials have said previouslythat a core focus of the group has been to counter Mexican drug cartels, two people familiar with the matter said. The group’s work has been coordinated with the Mexican government, a U.S. official told The Post in April.

Some former U.S. officials who served in Latin American have warned that an overly muscular approach involving U.S. troops and weapons could backfire in Mexico, the number one U.S. trading partner, alienating a country that is bruised from a long history of intervention by its northern neighbor.

It is also unclear whether stepped-up U.S. military operations would have much long-term effect on Mexican criminal organizations. That’s because they are no longer a handful of disciplined, vertically structured cartels sending drugs to the United States. Today, there are more than 500 cartels, gangs and mafia-style groups all over the country cooperating in a variety of ways, according to the consulting firm Lantia Intelligence.

The crime groups have become an important part of the Mexican economy, diversifying into extortion, oil theft, illegal logging, mining and even call centers. They are so powerful that they name mayors and enjoy alliances with senior officials in a number of states.

Trump has blasted Mexico for its failure to control the flow of fentanyl. “Narcotics of all kinds are pouring across our borders,” said a White House statement in March, announcing tariffs on Mexico and Canada. In response, Sheinbaum’s government has deployed thousands of troops to its northern border, transferred dozens of top traffickers to the Unite States and increased cooperation with U.S. antidrug agencies.