Mexican federal prosecutors have charged César Jáuregui, the former attorney general of Chihuahua state, with treason after two CIA agents died following a drug lab raid in April. The case centers on allegations that Jáuregui allowed the American agents to take part in a sensitive operation without authorization from Mexico’s federal government, according to The Associated Press and CNN.
On Sunday, a federal judge ordered Jáuregui to stand trial on the treason charge, which carries a sentence of five to 40 years in prison. Jáuregui denies authorizing the Americans’ participation.
The deaths occurred April 19, when a vehicle in a returning police convoy plunged into a ravine in the mountains of southwestern Chihuahua, killing all four people inside. Two were CIA agents. The other two were Pedro Román Oseguera Cervantes, director of Chihuahua’s State Investigation Agency, and one of his agents, Manuel Genaro Méndez Montes. The convoy was heading home from dismantling a drug lab near the hamlet of El Pinal, in the municipality of Morelos, after staging out of a military base in Guachochi.
The latest development in the treason case
Chihuahua state authorities first detained Jáuregui on Oct. 17 on charges of unlawful exercise of public service and conspiracy by public officials, CNN reported. Federal agents then took him into custody on the treason charge, according to Mexico News Daily. Mexico’s Attorney General Ernestina Godoy said there was no justification for the CIA agents’ participation and that Jáuregui had no authority to permit it.
The cases have moved quickly since. A state judge allowed the state charge of improper exercise of public service to move forward on Oct. 22. Three days later, a federal judge bound Jáuregui over for trial on the treason charge. He remains in pretrial detention at the Altiplano maximum-security prison.
Mexican officials say the CIA’s role broke the law. Only the federal government can authorize foreign agents to take part in field operations, and Sheinbaum confirmed that the agents carried weapons in violation of Mexican law, the AP reported. “Mexican law is clear: it does not permit the participation of foreign agents in operations within the national territory,” Mexico’s Security Ministry said in April.
The treason charge carries particular weight in Mexico’s legal system. It’s a charge Mexico hasn’t successfully taken to trial in decades, and the one recent attempt fell short, according to the AP.
Gilberto Loya Chávez, acting head of the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office, stressed in a video message that the arrest isn’t a knock on the State Investigation Agency, the State Attorney General’s Office or the Armed Forces, which took down the lab. The problem, he said, is “the way this operation was conducted, the failure to observe the chain of command and the applicable protocols.”
“A good result does not justify breaking the law,” Loya Chávez said.
Case background and how the deaths came to light
The day of the crash, Jáuregui announced the four deaths and described the two Americans as instructors from the U.S. Embassy. Two days later, The Washington Post reported that the pair were CIA agents, and the AP later confirmed it. The CIA has not publicly named them.
On April 27, special prosecutor Wendy Chávez released her first findings. She said there were signs that Oseguera Cervantes had a “possible unofficial collaboration” with the U.S. agents and never told his superiors they’d be joining the operation, CNN reported. Jáuregui stepped down the same day, telling the public he was taking “political responsibility” for the uproar.
The convoy carried more Americans than the two who died. Two other U.S. agents were riding in a separate vehicle that day, and both were later expelled from Mexico, according to the AP.
What officials and experts have said
President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government reacted with anger when CIA involvement came to light. Sheinbaum said her administration neither authorized the agents’ participation nor was told about it, the AP reported. She and her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, had already pushed through legal changes meant to keep foreign agencies from operating in Mexico without federal consent.
Not everyone agrees the treason charge fits the facts. Samuel González, a former chief prosecutor for organized crime, told the AP that Jáuregui may have fallen short of his obligations by keeping the federal government in the dark or letting foreign agents carry weapons. But in González’s view, none of that rises to treason, which he described as a wartime crime.
Luis Villegas, who coordinates Jáuregui’s defense, said it was unacceptable for federal prosecutors to liken the agents’ presence to a foreign “invasion,” according to the AP. Villegas said the two Americans who died were officials providing intelligence and drone training.
Carlos Pérez Ricart, a professor at Mexico’s Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) who has written a book on the history of U.S. spies and drug policy in Mexico, told the AP that the case risks sending a damaging message to Washington. He warned it could set back Mexico’s fight against drug trafficking and organized crime at a time when the conversation should be about stronger cooperation. Other experts quoted by the AP described the prosecution as a political decision ahead of Mexico’s 2027 midterm elections.
The case also lands amid reports of a wider CIA campaign against cartels in Mexico during President Donald Trump’s second term. In May, CNN reported, citing anonymous sources, that CIA operatives had taken part in deadly attacks on mostly mid-level cartel members since 2025. The New York Times has reported that the CIA expanded secret drone surveillance flights over Mexico. Sheinbaum called the reports a lie, and the CIA also denied them, while CNN said it stands by its reporting, Al Jazeera reported.
What’s next in the investigation
The U.S. State Department told the AP it is aware of and watching Jáuregui’s case, though it didn’t link the prosecution to the CIA agents’ deaths.
With the federal judge’s Oct. 25 ruling, the treason case now moves toward trial while Jáuregui remains behind bars. He is presumed innocent under Mexican law.
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