Federal prosecutors in Mexico have charged a former state prosecutor with treason for allowing US agents to take part in a raid on a suspected drugs laboratory in April. The accused, César Jáuregui Moreno, was arrested over the weekend. Authorities say he permitted the agents to join the operation without the required approval.
Jáuregui led the attorney general’s office in Chihuahua, a northern border state, from 2023 until this year. He is a member of the conservative opposition PAN party. He has denied the allegations against him.
How the US agents’ role came to light
The American presence surfaced after two US agents, said to have worked for the CIA, died in a car crash in Chihuahua. Two Mexican law enforcement officers also died in the crash. Officials said two members of the Chihuahua State Investigation Agency were among the dead.
The crash happened on 19 April, when a convoy returning from an operation against suspected methamphetamine labs in a remote, mountainous area left the road and plunged into a ravine. US media have reported that the two men were part of an expanded effort to tackle drug trafficking in the region.
Charges and Jáuregui’s defence
Attorney General Ernestina Godoy Ramos said Jáuregui had allowed foreign agents to carry out tasks reserved for Mexican authorities and had withheld information. A court hearing is scheduled for Saturday, and a judge must still decide whether there is enough evidence to move the case forward.
Jáuregui also faces state-level charges in Chihuahua, including abuse of public office. At a hearing on those charges on Sunday, he denied that he had instructed or agreed to the involvement of US agents. At the time of the crash, he had described the Americans to reporters as “instructor officers” from the US embassy engaged in “training work as part of the general and normal exchange we have with the US authorities”.
President Sheinbaum’s position on foreign operations
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has faced pressure from US President Donald Trump to crack down on drug trafficking. She has repeatedly turned down offers of US-led counter-narcotics operations in the country.
Sheinbaum has maintained that foreign officials may operate on Mexican soil only with prior clearance from the federal government. She has also insisted that the country’s sovereignty must not be breached.
