Mexico demands answers after CIA agent killed in car crash following drug raid: “We were not informed”

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters Tuesday that prosecutors are investigating possible violations of national security following an accident in northern Chihuahua that killed two Mexican police officers. two US government agents are dead.

The two Americans who were killed were employees of the Central Intelligence Agency, many people are familiar with the matter. he told CBS News. The CIA declined to comment.

“We are investigating what these people were doing and what agency they were working for,” said Sheinbaum.

Sheinbaum said any joint venture between the local government and the US without federal approval would be a violation of Mexican law.

The crash, following an operation to destroy a drug lab in a rural area, has also sparked debate about US involvement in Mexican security operations. The speculation was only fueled by Sheinbaum, local officials and the American Embassy seemed to contradict each other and sometimes themselves, and provided little information about the American officials who died.

“It was not a job the security cabinet knew about,” Sheinbaum told reporters. “We were not informed; it was the decision of the government of Chihuahua.”

It comes at an important time for relations between the two neighboring countries as Mexico faces increasing pressure from President Trump’s crackdown on cartels, and as Sheinbaum emphasizes Mexican sovereignty.

Sheinbaum said his government will investigate the incident to make sure no laws were broken after Sunday’s deaths, adding that state governments must get permission from the Mexican federal government to cooperate with the US and other foreign agencies “as established by the Constitution.”

Mountain car accident

The Attorney General of Chihuahua, César Jáuregui, said on Sunday that the officers died while returning from a mission to destroy the laboratories of criminal groups. They were driving in the middle of the night in the rugged mountainous region between Chihuahua and Sinaloa states, when the truck “appears to have skidded at some point and fell into a ravine, exploding.”

He said the four dead were two Mexican detectives and two US Embassy instructors who were participating in a routine “training exercise”.

In a press release, the attorney general’s office identified the two victims of the accident as the first director of the government’s investigative agency Pedro Román Oseguera Cervantes and officer Manuel Genaro Méndez Montes.

The U.S. embassy on Monday declined to identify the U.S. officials or which U.S. government agency they work for, but said the officials “support the efforts of Chihuahua state authorities to combat cartels.” American Ambassador Ronald Johnson expressed his sadness on social media, but he and other officials gave few details about the incident.

“We honor their dedication and tireless efforts to address one of the greatest challenges of our time,” Johnson said. “This tragedy is a stark reminder of the risks those Mexican and American officials have taken to protect our communities.

Jáuregui said the plan came after months of investigations by federal prosecutors and the Mexican military, indicating there was at least some level of involvement by Sheinbaum’s security forces. Hours later, Mexico’s Security Cabinet confirmed that the military and the federal prosecutor’s office conducted a joint operation over the weekend in Chihuahua to dismantle drug labs in the same area, Morelos.

After finding the labs using drones, officials found tons of drug-making materials but no people, who may have been tipped off and fled, the prosecutor said.

A local official later backtracked and explained that “there are no American agents in this operation to protect the narco-lab,” and said that embassy officials joined the team after the operation and were a few hours away from the scene.

Jáuregui called the labs “one of the largest facilities in the country where chemical drugs are produced.”

A resurgent debate

Sheinbaum said his government would provide more information when it has more details, but insisted Monday that there are “no joint operations on the ground or in the air” in Mexico. He said there is only information sharing between his government and the US, which is done within a “well-established” legal framework.

Although the training of US officials by Mexican soldiers is commonplace, their presence on Mexican territory has been an ongoing debate, which has intensified after the military actions of Mr. Trump on Venezuela and Iran.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly promised to take action against Mexican companies, an intervention Sheinbaum says is “unnecessary.” The Trump administration has already launched joint military operations in Ecuador, a country that has been plagued by drug gang violence in recent years.

Last year, Sheinbaum said the US had conducted drone surveillance flights at Mexico’s request after a series of conflicting public statements on the matter, sparking fear among observers.

The most recent controversy arose in January over the arrest in Mexico of former Canadian athlete Ryan Wedding, one of the most wanted fugitives in the United States. While Mexican officials said he surrendered at the US Embassy, ​​US authorities described his capture as the result of two operations.

The latest dispute comes at a critical time in US-Mexico relations. The second round of negotiations between the United States and Mexico regarding the United States-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement, USMCA, was expected to begin in Mexico City. The American delegation is led by trade representative Jamieson Greer, who was scheduled to meet with the president on Monday.

On the same day, the Trump administration also announced that it is imposing visa restrictions on members of the Cartel de Sinaloa family.

Mexico has announced the dismantling of dozens of drug labs in recent months after Mr. Trump threatened that there might be military action to stop the cartels in the country.

In February, Mexican naval personnel found a hidden drug laboratory in the Durango region of the country and “neutralized” it. 5,000 pounds of methamphetamine. In January, the authorities announced more than 1,500 pounds meth was seized from secret laboratories in the states of Durango, Sinaloa and Michoacán.