Officials at the Drug Enforcement Administration reportedly pushed for a series of military strikes against targets in Mexico earlier this year—an idea that alarmed some figures at the White House and the Pentagon, according to people who spoke with The Washington Post.

The discussions began about a month into the Trump administration after the president designated several Latin American drug cartels and criminal gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. DEA officials proposed strikes against cartel leadership and infrastructure in Mexico.

At the time, Acting DEA Administrator Derek S. Maltz told The Washington Post he was “totally in favor of hitting the production labs and command-and-control leaders in Mexico,” arguing that “the cartels have killed more Americans than any terrorist organization in the history of America, so they need to be held accountable.” He acknowledged that Mexico’s government under President Claudia Sheinbaum had made “substantial arrests and seizures” but said far more needed to be done to stop the cartels.