The US military has significantly increased its surveillance of Mexican drug cartels over the past two weeks, with sophisticated spy planes flying at least 18 missions over the southwestern US and in international airspace around the Baja peninsula,

"The cartels have increased and actually escalated their threats and are actually using drones to drop explosives on rival cartel members or even the military."

Former and current military officials believe gathered intelligence can be used to build a body of evidence for further foreign terrorist designations

Trump’s shift of Air Force resources from international issues to domestic issues is consistent with promises the president made along the campaign trail.