US Marshals in Disguise Help Mexico Marines

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting scoop about how American personnel are helping Mexico's military catch drug suspects—they're disguising themselves as Mexican marines and taking part in armed raids. It's generally members of the US Marshals Service doing so, but FBI and DEA agents sometimes tag along, too. The secret missions happen about four times a year. During one such raid in July, an American was shot and wounded while walking with Mexican marines in Sinaloa state, writes Devlin Barrett in what appears to be the first public accounting of the incident.

It's not entirely clear exactly which officials in which country have signed off on the strategy, but one of them appears to be Marshals Service chief Stacia Hylton. She sent out an email after the July firefight to let people know that the wounded American was safely back in the US and recuperating, reports the Journal. The Marshals Service is part of the Justice Department, no stranger to risks in Mexico thanks to the botched Fast and Furious program. (More US Marshals Service stories.)