EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Texas Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is celebrating the inclusion of provisions in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act of a bill he coauthored earlier to train Mexican soldiers to fight drug cartels.
The Partnership for Advancing Regional Training in Narcotics Enforcement Response Strategy (PARTNERS) Act died in a committee of the 118th Congress. But Cornyn managed to include portions in the new NDAA. The bill now goes to the conference committee.
“Texas shares more than 1,200 miles of border with Mexico and binational cooperation is essential to stop the flow of deadly drugs and keep people safe,” Cornyn said in a statement on Wednesday. “This legislation empowers the Department of War to train Mexican military forces in counternarcotics efforts to crack down on cartels and bolster national security in both countries.”
The provisions call for a pilot program so Mexican military forces can receive tactical training in U.S. military bases. That use-of-force and analytical training can be used not just against drug traffickers but also against human smugglers, gunrunners and large-scale fuel thieves.
Section 1205 of the NDAA calls for “building the capacity of the armed forces of Mexico to counter transnational criminal organizations.”
That includes operation using rotary-wing aircraft (helicopters), joint analysis of “key nodes of activity” of TCOs, and finding where the money to fund illicit activities is coming from.
Section 1208 calls for enhanced authority to “build capacity of foreign security forces.”
Cornyn and cosponsor U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, pitched the original PARTNERS Act (S. 2098) as a cost-effective way to disrupt the structure and leadership of criminal organizations shipping tons of illegal drugs that end up killing thousands in the United States.
“Every day, families across our country lose loved ones to the devastating epidemic of illegal drugs. This is an urgent crisis that needs to be addressed from every possible angle – especially by stopping drugs before they enter the country,” King said at the time.