Washington DC [US], May 13 (ANI): The US government's foreign intelligence service, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has significantly escalated covert operations against drug cartels inside Mexico, including alleged targeted killings and expanded intelligence-driven missions, according to a CNN report citing multiple sources familiar with the operations.

According to CNN, the report claimed that earlier this year, an alleged Sinaloa Cartel operative, Francisco Beltran--also known as 'El Payin'--was killed in a car explosion on a highway near Mexico City.

Mexican security analysts and sources cited in the report said Beltran was a mid-level cartel member.

According to CNN, Mexican authorities have maintained secrecy around the incident, but sources familiar with the case claimed the attack was a targeted assassination involving CIA operations officers.

The State of Mexico's Attorney General reportedly confirmed that an explosive device had been placed inside the vehicle.

The report further alleged that the operation was part of an expanded and previously unreported CIA campaign inside Mexico aimed at dismantling cartel networks.

CNN cited multiple sources as saying the agency's elite Ground Branch unit has been involved in a broader push against organised crime groups.

'The lethality of their operations has been seriously ramped up,' one source told CNN, adding, 'It's a significant expansion of the kind of thing the CIA has been willing to do inside Mexico.'

Sources cited by CNN said CIA involvement in operations has varied from intelligence-sharing support to direct participation in alleged assassination missions.

However, after publication of the report, CIA spokesperson Liz Lyons said, 'This is false and salacious reporting that serves as nothing more than a PR campaign for the cartels and puts American lives at risk.'