Sheinbaum condemns foreign agents' role in Chihuahua raid

President Claudia Sheinbaum called it "very irresponsible, to say the least" for foreign agents to take part in a ground operation in the northern state of Chihuahua. She made the remark on Monday at her daily morning briefing, asked about the case in which federal prosecutors arrested the state's former attorney general, César Jáuregui.

Sheinbaum said she considers the agents' involvement illegal, and that the way the operation was carried out made it worse. By her account, the group drove at night on a winding road that demands local knowledge, their vehicle overturned or crashed, and two foreigners died. She asked why they went out before dawn on an operation in which, she said, they did not even have the authority to inspect a lab, and said that has to be explained in the legal proceedings.

The law was broken, she added, because Mexico was not informed and because foreign agencies cannot conduct operations on the ground. She also expressed regret over the deaths.

On the case itself, Sheinbaum said the federal attorney general told her the investigations are not over, since Chihuahua's former top prosecutor is still being investigated on other matters that her office has yet to disclose. She did not name him in the portion of the briefing reviewed.

The operation took place in El Pinal, in the municipality of Morelos, between April 17 and 19. The crash killed four people, two state agents and two Americans. Sheinbaum spoke only of the foreigners. Some outlets have reported the Americans were CIA officers; the United States has not confirmed that.

Jáuregui resigned on April 27. Until there is a sentence, the accusations against him are allegations, and prosecutors still have to disclose the other matters they are investigating.