U.S. keeps Mexico on fiscal 2027 drug-transit list
A new U.S. presidential determination keeps Mexico among 23 countries identified as important territories for illicit drug transit or production, while separating that designation from the more serious finding applied to Bolivia and Colombia.
The Trump administration has again placed Mexico on the United States’ list of countries identified as major territories for the illicit transit or production of drugs in fiscal year 2027, according to a presidential determination submitted to Congress. Publimetro México reports that the list names 23 countries, including 17 in Latin America and the Caribbean, such as Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia and Mexico.
The designation does not by itself mean that a government is failing to fight drug trafficking. U.S. law also considers geographic, commercial and economic conditions that may facilitate the movement or production of drugs. Publimetro México says Washington is maintaining its focus on fentanyl, chemical precursors and other synthetic drugs, while seeking cooperation with Mexico on precursor seizures, synthetic-drug production and transnational criminal organizations.
The determination distinguishes Mexico’s inclusion from the more serious finding that a country has “demonstrably failed” to meet its international counternarcotics commitments. Bolivia and Colombia received that designation for the past 12 months. Venezuela remains on the general list but was removed from the more severe category used in the previous determination, which had also included Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma and Colombia. The U.S. classification is therefore a policy designation and not, on its own, an accusation that a government refuses to cooperate on security.