Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has ordered an investigation into the role played by two U.S. officials in a counter-narcotics operation in the northern state of Chihuahua.
The two died alongside two Mexican officials when their car crashed on their way back from an operation to destroy illegal drug labs, Chihuahua officials said.
Sheinbaum stated that neither she nor senior members of the federal security team had been informed about any joint U.S.-Mexican operations.
Foreign officials can only operate on Mexican soil with prior clearance at the federal level, Sheinbaum insisted.
She has faced pressure from U.S. counterpart Donald Trump to stem the flow of drugs from Mexico to the United States, yet she has maintained that Mexico's sovereignty cannot be negotiated.
On Monday, she asserted, we did not have knowledge of any direct work between Chihuahua state and personnel from the U.S. embassy.
She added the government must understand the circumstances of the operation and assess the legal implications.
According to a Chihuahua state official, the two U.S. nationals and two members of the Chihuahua State Investigation Agency (AEI) died on Sunday morning when their car skidded off the road and plummeted into a ravine where it exploded.
The U.S. ambassador in Mexico, Ronald Johnson, described the two American citizens as U.S. embassy personnel.
Chihuahua State Attorney-General César Jáuregui confirmed in a news conference that the two were instructor officers from the U.S. embassy engaged in training work as part of their exchange with U.S. authorities.
He noted the accident occurred as they were driving back from an operation that destroyed multiple clandestine production labs for synthetic drugs.
When pressed further, he clarified that the U.S. officials were engaged in basic training work, some eight or nine hours away from the operation against the drugs lab.
Sheinbaum emphasized that her government needed to determine if this operation breached Mexican national security laws, which prohibit joint operations without federal approval. She highlighted that while her administration collaborates with the U.S., including in intelligence sharing, there are no joint operations on land or in the air.
The Washington Post reported that the two U.S. officials who died were working for the CIA, involved in a significantly expanded role combating narcotics trafficking in the region.
The BBC has reached out to the CIA for comment.
Last September, a Reuters investigation revealed that the intelligence agency had been conducting covert actions in Mexico for years to track down the country’s most-wanted drug traffickers and worked closely with special units in the Mexican military.
With the Mexican government's consent, the CIA has provided selected Mexican units with training, equipment, and financial backing.
At least two CIA-vetted military units are currently active, including the Mexican Army team that apprehended Ovidio Guzmán-López, along with a specialized Mexican Navy intelligence unit.
