CIA agents killed in Mexico crash, exposing covert operations

A New York Times investigation reveals CIA agents operated in Mexico alongside local police for months, despite President Claudia Sheinbaum's opposition. The operation was exposed after a vehicle carrying two agents and two Mexicans crashed off a cliff in April, killing all four.

A New York Times investigation reveals that CIA agents operated for more than six months alongside police forces in Mexico, participating in raids against drug cartels and assisting in planning field operations, contrary to the stated position of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who made clear she would not allow operational activity by American forces on her country's soil. The activity took place mainly in the state of Chihuahua in northern Mexico, with the assistance of Guillermo Zuani Portillo, a local prosecutor and former police chief who was under FBI investigation on suspicion of ties to drug cartels. The investigation reveals that the agents carried weapons and tactical equipment, and sometimes wore jackets with Chihuahua police insignia. The operation that exposed the covert activity began in April, when four American agents joined a force of more than 60 Mexican security personnel to locate a methamphetamine lab. On the way back, a vehicle carrying two CIA agents and two Mexicans careened off a 90-meter cliff and exploded, killing all four occupants. Following the affair, Zuani and the attorney general of Chihuahua, César Jáuregui, who was accused of treason, resigned. Zuani fled and is still wanted.