The two US embassy officials who died in a car accident in Mexico on Sunday worked for the CIA and had been collaborating with Mexican officials on expanded counternarcotics operations in the nation, two individuals briefed on the matter confirmed to NCS.
Two Mexican officials who had been a part of Chihuahua’s State Investigation Agency (AEI) had been additionally killed in the accident. The CIA officers and the Mexican officials had been getting back from a drug raid in the municipality of Morelos when their car crashed on the Chihuahua–Ciudad Juárez freeway, in line with preliminary studies.
The circumstances of the accident are nonetheless below investigation, stated considered one of the individuals briefed.
NCS has requested the CIA for remark.
The Washington Post was first to report they worked for the CIA.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated Monday that her authorities had been “unaware of any direct collaboration between the state of Chihuahua and personnel from the US Embassy in Mexico.”
“The relationship is federal, not state,” she stated. “They must have authorization from the federal government for this collaboration, which necessarily takes place at the state level, as established by the Constitution.”
The US Ambassador to Mexico posted on X on Sunday that “we are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of two U.S. Embassy personnel, the Director of Chihuahua’s State Investigation Agency (AEI), and an AEI officer in this accident.”
He added that “this tragedy is a solemn reminder of the risks faced by those Mexican and U.S. officials who are dedicated to protecting our communities.”
The CIA has considerably expanded its operations in Mexico below Director John Ratcliffe, and the Trump administration has broadly worked to shift a wide range of counterterrorism authorities and sources to counter-cartel work alongside the US-Mexico border and inside Mexico itself.
The CIA started covertly flying MQ-9 Reaper drones over Mexico to spy on drug cartels final yr and likewise undertook a evaluation of its authorities to make use of lethal force in opposition to drug cartels in the nation, NCS has reported.
The company informed NCS final yr that “countering drug cartels in Mexico and regionally is a priority for CIA as a part of the Trump Administration’s broader efforts to end the grave threat from narco-trafficking. Director Ratcliffe is determined to put CIA’s unique expertise to work against this multifaceted challenge.”