U.S. military and DEA personnel directly participated alongside Ecuadorian forces in a September 24, 2026, raid targeting a CJNG-linked network in Guayaquil and surrounding areas, marking a confirmed instance of ground involvement against cartel targets on foreign soil. The Trump administration has expanded deployments of 10th Mountain Division troops to Panama, Colombia, and Honduras for joint training and counter-cartel support, while establishing Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere and pressing Mexico via recent memorandum for U.S. personnel to accompany operations inside that country ahead of November 3 midterms. Mexico has rejected direct foreign military participation, maintaining that sovereignty limits such roles to intelligence sharing and partner-led actions. These developments, combined with prior maritime interdictions and coalition agreements designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, shape trader assessments of whether qualifying direct U.S. kinetic or ground participation will meet resolution criteria by late October.