Mexican president in the dark about drug operation after which US, Mexican officials were killed

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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum indicated Monday that she would call for explanations regarding what U.S. and Mexican officials were doing when they died due to a car accident in Mexico.

Sheinbaum said her government would investigate the incident to ensure no laws were broken after the deaths on Sunday, adding that state governments must have authorization from Mexico’s federal government to collaborate with U.S. and other foreign entities “as established by the Constitution,” according to The Associated Press.

The deadly incident, which killed two U.S. embassy personnel and two individuals with the Chihuahua State Investigation Agency (AEI), occurred after a drug-related operation in Mexico.

“It was not an operation that the security cabinet was aware of,” Sheinbaum said, according to the AP. “We were not informed; it was a decision by the Chihuahua government.”

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In a statement issued Sunday, César Jáuregui Moreno, the Chihuahua state attorney general, announced the deaths “of the members of the State Investigation Agency, as well as two instructor officers from the United States Embassy, who died in an accident while returning from the operation to destroy clandestine laboratories in the municipality of Morelos,” according to an English translation.

The attorney general indicated in another statement that there were no foreign agents involved in the operation and that it was not connected to the accident.

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“In order to avoid speculation and misunderstandings surrounding the operation that led to the discovery of a drug lab in the community of El Pinal, in the Sierra de Chihuahua, the Attorney General of the State, César Jáuregui Moreno, specified that only elements of the State Investigation Agency (AEI) and the Mexican Army participated in it,” the April 20 statement said, according to an English translation.

“With the above, he rules out the intervention of foreign elements, however, he specified that instructors from the United States were in the state and in a neighboring community, but for other purposes, such as teaching in the handling of drones,” the office said. “He stated that around 80 officers participated in the seizure of the drug lab, 40 of them from the AEI and another 40 from the Secretariat of National Defense (DEFENSA).”

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U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum

Jáuregui Moreno said AEI Director Pedro Román Oseguera Cervantes “met with instructors from the U.S. Embassy, who were in Polanco giving a course on drone operation” and “they had a flight on Sunday morning from the city of Chihuahua and asked for assistance to travel along with the convoy in which the Director was traveling”

“They got into the vehicle at approximately two in the morning, and suffered the accident in which they lost their lives when it went off the road into one of the ravines in the area,” Jáuregui Moreno said, also noting “there was never any involvement of any foreign agent in El Pinal.”

He noted there “were no U.S. agents in the operation to secure the narco-lab,” according to the AP.

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The outlet reported that the Mexican Security Cabinet confirmed that the army and state prosecutor’s office executed a joint effort over the weekend in Chihuahua targeting drug labs in the same place, Morelos.

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson said in part of a Sunday post on X, “We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of two U.S. Embassy personnel, the Director of Chihuahua’s State Investigation Agency (AEI), and an AEI officer in this accident.”

“We honor their dedication and tireless efforts to confront one of the greatest challenges of our time. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their loved ones. This tragedy is a solemn reminder of the risks faced by those Mexican and U.S. officials who are dedicated to protecting our communities. It strengthens our resolve to continue their mission and advance our shared commitment to security and justice, to protect our people,” he added.