The two American agents killed in Mexico did not have authorization to intervene in the country, says Mexico

Two U.S. officials who died in a car crash in Mexico last week after a drug trafficking operation did not have authorization to intervene in the country, the Mexican Ministry of the Interior announced on Saturday.

One of the officials, reportedly from the CIA according to the American press, “entered the country as a visitor,” while the other did so “with a diplomatic passport,” the ministry clarified in a statement. The U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, stated that they were “two members of the embassy.”

CBS and other American media outlets reported that they were CIA agents, the U.S. agency responsible for foreign intelligence. The death of the two Americans and two Mexican officials in a car accident in northern Mexico, following an extensive anti-drug operation, was announced by the prosecutor’s office last Sunday.

The group had participated in a raid on six clandestine laboratories of synthetic drugs in Morelos, in the state of Chihuahua, at the end of a three-month investigation. Their vehicle, part of a convoy of five vehicles, skidded and plunged into a ravine.

In an earlier version, the prosecutor of the state of Chihuahua, César Jauregui, had mentioned Mexican soldiers and members of the Chihuahua State Investigation Agency were also in the convoy. He then explained that the American agents were “instructor officers” carrying out training tasks.

Later, Jauregui stated that the Americans were providing “a course on the use of drones” in a location about six hours away from where the operation took place. He said that the American agents had then requested to move with the convoy of state police returning from the anti-drug operation.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated that the federal prosecutor was investigating potential national security violations. She emphasized that “any activity carried out by American agencies on our territory” must comply with Mexican national security laws and be authorized by the federal government.

Under pressure from the U.S. government, Mexico has strengthened its anti-drug cooperation with the United States in recent months and extradited dozens of drug traffickers to its northern neighbor.