Mexico's President Sheinbaum Investigates US Officials' Deaths in Chihuahua Counter-Narcotics Operation
President Claudia Sheinbaum has initiated an investigation into the deaths of two US officials in a car crash in Mexico’s northern state of Chihuahua. The US personnel, alongside two Mexican officials, died returning from an operation to destroy illegal drug laboratories. Sheinbaum stated that neither she nor senior federal security officials had been informed of any joint US-Mexican operations, insisting that foreign officials require prior federal clearance to operate within Mexico.
Sheinbaum has consistently maintained Mexico's sovereignty amidst US pressure to curb drug flows. On Monday, she emphasised, “we did not have knowledge of any direct work between Chihuahua state and personnel from the US embassy,” adding that the government needed “to understand the circumstances under which this was taking place, and then assess the legal implications.”
The US ambassador in Mexico, Ronald Johnson, identified the deceased Americans as “US embassy personnel.” Chihuahua State Attorney-General César Jáuregui initially described them as “instructor officers” engaged in “training work” as part of routine exchanges. He later clarified on Monday that they were involved in “basic training work, some eight or nine hours [drive] from the place where the operation against the drugs lab took place.”
Federal officials have reportedly requested information from both the US embassy and Chihuahua state authorities to ascertain if the operation violated Mexican national security law, which mandates federal approval for joint operations. Sheinbaum affirmed that while intelligence sharing with the US occurs, “there are no joint operations on land or in the air.”
