The death of two US agents in an accident that occurred this Sunday in the Chihuahua mountains not only opened an investigation by the federal government, but also triggered a direct clash of versions between state authorities and a journalistic investigation that ensures that the foreigners did participate in the operation and that they belonged to the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
In an interview with Alejandro Páez and Álvaro Delgado on the “Los Periodistas” program that is broadcast through the SinEmbargo Al Aire channel on the YouTube platform, Luis Chaparro, journalist from the media outlet Footnotemaintained that the official narrative is incomplete and, in part, false.
“First we learned that there were two American agents, who are the two deceased; today we know that there were four of them. They were in a convoy returning from an operation that lasted approximately two days in the mountains of Chihuahua where one of the largest laboratories ever seen in Mexico was dismantled,” Chaparro stated.
According to their investigation, the four agents were assigned to the United States Embassy, but at least three of them have been identified as part of the CIA in its office in Monterrey, Nuevo León, where they had been assigned between three and four years. The journalist assured that his role was decisive in locating the mega drug laboratory.
“We found that they, using their technology, information and intelligence, managed to find this drug laboratory; they were the ones who led the authorities to this site. Once it is dismantled, they return and that is where the accident happens,” he explained.
The journalist directly denied the version that the agents were in training. “There are two truths: the two agents died and they came with agents from the State Investigation Agency. But there is a lie: they were not training, they were not training in the use of drones,” he said.
He also revealed that the agents would have operated without authorization from the federal government, which could constitute a violation of the National Security Law.
“One of the sources at the United States Embassy confirms to me that these 4 agents who went to the operation did not have the capacity, they did not have the authorization to operate in the territory. What the source tells me, just as the President says this morning, any operation by a foreign agent has to request permission from the federation and in this case there was no authorization or request to operate.”
Chaparro added that according to what was verified, the agents did not identify themselves as foreign personnel and even wore official uniforms of the Chihuahua State Investigation Agency.
“In addition, the four agents were wearing the uniform of the Chihuahua state investigation agency, they were wearing the agency’s clothing, they were not identifying themselves as foreign agents, from their agency or the Embassy, that is, they were hidden, they were doing it under the table.” And he warned that these types of actions may not be isolated: “We realized because they had an accident, but this has been happening for a long time.”
Sheinbaum said that Mexico is already investigating what the two US agents who died in an accident that occurred after returning from an operation in Chihuahua were doing.
Chihuahua Prosecutor: “They were found”
In contrast to the journalist’s version, the Usual Prosecutor of Chihuahua, César Jáuregui Moreno, denied that foreign agents had participated in the dismantling of the drug laboratory in the community of El Pinal.
According to their version, the operation—which lasted two days—was carried out exclusively by 80 elements: 40 from the State Investigation Agency and 40 from the Mexican Army.
The official acknowledged that there were American personnel in the region, but assured that they were instructors who were providing training in drone management in a nearby community.
“It is appropriate to explain what happened,” he said, before detailing that the meeting with the Americans took place after the operation, when the official convoy was returning to the city of Chihuahua.
“He came in a convoy of five vehicles, and in the community of Polanco, which is approximately six and a half hours from El Pinal, the director met instructors from the US Embassy, who were in Polanco giving a course on the handling of drones (…) they had a flight on Sunday morning from the city of Chihuahua and asked for collaboration to travel along with the caravan in which the Director came, they got into the vehicle and at approximately two in the morning, they suffered the mishap in where they lost their lives when they fell into one of the ravines that exist in the place,” lamented the Prosecutor.
In the community of Polanco, he said, the alleged instructors requested support to move, since they had a scheduled flight. It was during that trip, in the early morning, when the vehicle overturned, causing the death of two of them.
The Prosecutor insisted that these are different events and that “there was never the participation of any foreign agent in El Pinal.”
The contradictions between the state version, the federal position and the journalistic investigation have placed the case at the center of the debate on sovereignty and the actions of foreign agencies in Mexico.
On the one hand, the federal government denied having authorized any field operations. On the other hand, the State Prosecutor’s Office minimized the presence of the agents. However, Pie de Nota’s investigation points to state authorities as key actors in the operation, even operating covertly.
The case also exposes possible flaws in the coordination mechanisms between levels of Government, as well as gray areas in bilateral cooperation on security matters.
Meanwhile, the victim identification processes continue, with the participation of the United States Consulate, and the collection of official information.
The federal government announced that it will release more details as the investigation progresses, in a case that could have far-reaching legal and diplomatic implications.
“There are no joint operations”: Sheinbaum
This morning, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo reiterated that her Government was not aware of the participation of US agents in that operation.
“We were not aware. It was a decision of the Government of Chihuahua,” he stated, while announcing that information is already being requested from both the state government and the United States Embassy.
Sheinbaum stressed that bilateral collaboration exists, but is limited to intelligence exchange and not joint operations in the field. “There is collaboration, there is coordination, but there are no joint operations on the ground or in the air,” he insisted.
Likewise, he emphasized that any activity of foreign agents in Mexico requires federal authorization. “They have to have authorization from the federation for this collaboration,” he said.
The president also distanced herself from previous administrations, recalling that during the six-year term of Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, the direct participation of US agents in operations was common.
