MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities have arrested César Jáuregui, the former attorney general of the northern border state of Chihuahua, on suspicion of treason for allegedly allowing CIA officers to take part in an April raid on a clandestine drug laboratory without the authorization required by Mexican law, Attorney General Ernestina Godoy said Saturday, Reuters and El País reported.
“The investigation determined that Cesar N may have engaged in conduct that could possibly constitute the crime of treason in matters of national security because he allegedly allowed foreign individuals to intervene without authorization on Mexican territory and take part in actions that correspond exclusively to national security forces,” Godoy said in a video message, as Reuters reported. She said the arrest warrant was signed by a federal judge after months of investigation.
The case stems from an April operation in El Pinal, in the Sierra Tarahumara, in which state agents dismantled a drug lab. On the way back, a road crash killed two officials of the Chihuahua prosecutor’s office and two Americans whom Jáuregui, then still attorney general, described as U.S. Embassy instructors. CNN and other outlets later reported that the two Americans were CIA officers.
Godoy said investigators found evidence that the CIA officers had visited the offices of Chihuahua’s state criminal investigation agency several times “without any justification,” and that the raid — a federal responsibility — was carried out without the state prosecutor’s office having opened a case file, El País reported. She also accused Jáuregui of informing foreigners while alerting federal forces only after the operation.
Chihuahua’s acting attorney general, Gilberto Loya Chávez, said Jáuregui also faces state charges of unlawful exercise of public service and conspiracy, according to CNN. What is being investigated is how the operation was conducted, not the dismantling of the lab, he said: “A good result does not justify breaking the law.”
The deaths rekindled sensitivities over U.S. involvement in Mexican security operations. President Claudia Sheinbaum has said her government welcomes intelligence sharing but does not permit U.S. agents or forces to take part directly in operations on Mexican soil, Reuters reported.
Sources: Reuters (via Investing.com), CNN en Español, El País
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