For more info:
The CIA as Organized Crime by Douglas Valentine (not about the mexican cartels specifically but about how they utilized the very same blueprint down to a t in Operation Phoenix in Vietnam and exported that model pretty much everywhere the US had its hands in)
https://lasillarota.com/nacion/2018/3/16/como-la-cia-fortalecio-al-cartel-de-guadalajara-financio-la-contra-nicaragense-154335.html
The mexican narcos were utilized by the CIA in the Iran-Contra affair to smuggle cash and weapons into Nicaragua and in return they smuggled coke via CIA planes into US airports where it could be distributed with impunity. The CIA has also been involved in using organized crime as barely-distanced proxies in pretty much every region of the world, as outlined by Douglas Valentine in "The CIA as Organized Crime" in which he explores operation Phoenix among others mostly via CIA officers bragging on the record to him.
In the book, an agent says the CIA doesn't do anything it can't possibly provide plausible deniability for, and sure enough, when Camarena got whacked after uncovering some uncomfortable shit for the CIA and Proceso claimed they were involved, it was deny deny deny. Until it was shown that CIA operatives participated and then it was deny that the CIA itself ordered it, not that there were CIA ops involved. Former CIA agents, such as ex Director of the Intelligence Center in El Paso Phil Jordan have asserted as much
Idk i'm just a cartel sucking
Bruh lmao I just saw the username
Lol