Mexican authorities have arrested César Jáuregui, former attorney general of Chihuahua, over allegations that he allowed US intelligence agents to participate in a raid on a clandestine drug laboratory without authorisation from the federal government. CNN reported that the arrest followed an investigation into an April operation in which state…...
Mexican authorities have arrested César Jáuregui, former attorney general of Chihuahua, over allegations that he allowed US intelligence agents to participate in a raid on a clandestine drug laboratory without authorisation from the federal government.
CNN reported that the arrest followed an investigation into an April operation in which state officials dismantled a suspected drug-manufacturing laboratory in northern Chihuahua, with misconduct allegedly occurring during the operation.
Gilberto Loya Chávez, acting head of the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office, said in a video message that Jáuregui was being investigated for unlawful exercise of public service and conspiracy by public officials.
Loya Chávez added that Jáuregui was expected to appear before a judge but did not disclose the date of the hearing.
The case stems from an operation on April 19, when four people died in a car crash while returning from a drug raid. The victims were two Mexican law enforcement officials and two Americans, whom Jáuregui, then attorney general, initially identified as instructors from the US Embassy in Mexico City.
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Days later, CNN and other media organisations reported that the two Americans were Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents rather than ordinary embassy workers.
The agency has expanded its clandestine anti-cartel operations in Mexico during US President Donald Trump’s second term, including reported assassinations of alleged cartel members and drone flights over Mexican territory.
Speaking on Saturday, Loya Chávez clarified that the investigation was not focused on the drug raid itself but on the alleged failure to follow Mexican law and established procedures in involving the US agents.
“This action does not disregard the work of the State Investigation Agency, the State Attorney General’s Office, or the Armed Forces in dismantling the clandestine laboratory, because it is of course a very significant result in the fight against organized crime,” Loya Chávez said. “What is being investigated is the way this operation was conducted, the failure to observe the chain of command and the applicable protocols.”
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He added, “A good result does not justify breaking the law.”
CNN said it had contacted Jáuregui’s office to establish whether he had secured legal representation and entered a plea.
The involvement of CIA agents in the operation angered the administration of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, which criticised Chihuahua authorities for failing to notify and coordinate with federal officials before the operation, as required by Mexican law.
Sheinbaum had said her government was unaware that Chihuahua state officials and the US government were collaborating independently and insisted that the circumstances surrounding the operation required investigation.
“The relationship is federal, not state,” Sheinbaum said. “They must have authorization from the federal government for this collaboration, which necessarily takes place at the state level, as established by the Constitution.”
Following the controversy, Chihuahua Governor María Eugenia Campos ordered the establishment of a special unit to investigate the incident.
On April 27, special prosecutor Wendy Chávez said preliminary findings indicated that the director of Chihuahua’s state security agency, who died in the crash, had “possible unofficial collaboration” with the US agents without informing his superiors that they would participate in the operation.
Jáuregui resigned as attorney general on the same day, saying he was accepting “political responsibility” for the tensions arising from the incident.
“There were omissions both in the information provided and in the institutional handling of the points of contact with these individuals,” he said.
Before his arrest on Saturday, Jáuregui had been seeking the conservative National Action Party nomination to contest the mayoral election in Chihuahua, the state capital.