The former attorney general of Chihuahua, César Jáuregui, was taken into federal custody Sunday on a charge of treason related to allegations that U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers participated in a drug lab raid in Chihuahua in April without the knowledge or authorization of the Mexican government.
Jáuregui, Chihuahua’s attorney general from January 2023 until his resignation in April 2026, was detained by Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) agents in Chihuahua city Sunday night after appearing in a state court on two charges brought by the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office: unlawful exercise of public office and conspiracy by public officials.
He was subsequently flown to Toluca, México state, and transferred to the Altiplano federal prison, located northwest of Toluca, on Monday morning.
Jáuregui was first arrested on state and federal charges on Saturday. On Sunday night, a judge ruled that he did not need to be held in pretrial detention on the state charges. However, any hope Jáuregui had of regaining his freedom was short-lived, as federal agents took him into custody on the federal treason charge.
The treason charge stems from the allegation that the ex-attorney general allowed CIA officers to participate in a drug lab raid without authorization from the Mexican government. If convicted, Jáuregui faces a prison sentence of five to 40 years.
His arrest came six months after four CIA agents allegedly participated in a drug lab raid led by Chihuahua’s State Investigation Agency (AEI). Two CIA agents and two Chihuahua state police officials, including the head of the AEI, died in a car accident after the operation was carried out in the municipality of Morelos, located in the Sierra Tarahumara.
President Claudia Sheinbaum assigned most of the blame for the allegedly illegal security collaboration between Chihuahua and the United States to Chihuahua authorities, although she also accused the U.S. government of interference in Mexican affairs.
Chihuahua Governor Maru Campos said in May that she didn’t authorize or have knowledge of the presence of the CIA in the northern border state. If CIA officers did indeed participate in the drug lab operation, their involvement would have violated Mexico’s Constitution and National Security Law, according to federal authorities.
According to a report published by The Los Angeles Times in April, the raid in Chihuahua on the weekend of April 18 and 19 was “at least the third time this year that CIA operatives joined authorities in the northern border state of Chihuahua in an operation against a drug target.”
Guillermo Arturo Zuany Portillo, former head of the Strategic Operations division of the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office, is wanted in connection with the drug lab raid in April, but has not yet been detained.
Godoy: ‘No justification whatsoever’ for the CIA agents’ participation in the drug lab raid
In a video message on Saturday, federal Attorney General Ernestina Godoy described the drug lab raid in Chihuahua in April as an “irregular operation” that constituted “an attack on the federal pact and the separation of powers.”
“It should be noted that our Constitution and the National Security Law restrict states’ ability to assume powers reserved to the federal government or to transfer governmental powers to foreign authorities,” she said.
Godoy said that an FGR investigation determined that Jáuregui allegedly engaged in conduct that could constitute the offense of treason.
“This is because he allegedly allowed foreign nationals to operate without authorization on Mexican territory and to carry out activities reserved exclusively for federal forces,” she said.
“This undermines the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as such conduct is expressly prohibited by the Constitution,” Godoy said.
“It is clearly established in the investigation file, including through information provided by the [Chihuahua] State Attorney General’s Office itself, that the participation in the operation by these foreigners had no justification whatsoever,” she said.
“… State authorities lacked the legal authority to carry out activities reserved exclusively for the federal government,” Godoy said, referring to the dismantlement of drug labs.
“The National Security Law expressly prohibits states from doing so.”
The attorney general also said that Jáuregui allegedly “concealed information” from federal authorities.
“The State Attorney General’s Office, through its head, was required to inform the federal government [about the operation]. It did not do so,” Godoy said.
Sheinbaum: FGR is investigating Jáuregui’s alleged involvement in ‘other matters’
At her Monday morning press conference, Sheinbaum also said that the Chihuahua state government doesn’t have the authority to “dismantle a [drug] laboratory.”
“The Federal Attorney General’s Office has that authority,” she said.
“… The truth is that it was very irresponsible, to say the least, to not only allow the participation of foreign agents, against the law, in a ground operation, but also to do so in the way they did,” Sheinbaum said, highlighting that Chihuahua officials and CIA agents traveled on a dangerous, winding road at night after the drug lab raid.
#Mañanera Ante la detención del ex fiscal de Chihuahua, @Claudiashein calificó de ‘muy irresponsable’ el operativo en la Sierra Tarahumara en el que participaron agentes de la CIA.
Señaló que la Fiscalía estatal investiga la participación de César Jáuregui en ‘otros casos’.
📹 Gobierno federal
https://t.co/uhCGj87YOO— REFORMA (@Reforma) October 19, 2026
After lamenting the deaths that occurred as a result of the accident on the road, she reiterated that the operation was “very irresponsible”
“In addition, they were violating the law because they didn’t inform [federal authorities] and ground operations by foreign agencies aren’t allowed,” Sheinbaum said.
“… The Federal Attorney General’s Office is investigating and based on what … [Godoy] tells me, those investigations haven’t finished because they’re investigating this ex-attorney general … for his involvement in other matters. The Attorney General’s Office will have to report [on that],” she said.
“This is important and it’s also good that the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting an attorney general who broke the law,” Sheinbaum said.
She added that, as far as she is aware, the FGR doesn’t have any evidence that links Governor Campos to state authorities’ alleged authorization of the CIA’s participation in a security operation in Chihuahua.
“That’s what I know so far. It’s up to the Federal Attorney General’s Office to clarify,” Sheinbaum said.
With reports from Reforma, La Jornada and El Universal
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