A car accident over the past weekend may have exposed that the United States has officials in Mexico without federal permission, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has promised to demand an explanation from the United States.
The car crash happened in the middle of the night in a mountainside road on Sunday: four people, two local Mexican investigative officials and two US Embassy instructors died. They were coming from an operation to destroy a clandestine meth lab in the state of Chihuahua, when the car skid off the road and fell into a ravine, exploding.
Initial reports from the local prosecutor said that the American officers were instructor officers from the US embassy in training work. But The Washington Post reported that the officials worked for the CIA, as part of ongoing covert operations in Mexico to track down drug traffickers.
On Tuesday, Sheinbaum said that the security cabinet was not informed of the operation, and it was a decision by the Chihuahua government. "A full investigation must be conducted by the Attorney General's Office to determine whether the Constitution or the National Security Law was violated", adding that state government like Chihuahua's must have authorisation from Mexico's federal government to collaborate with foreign entities, via AP.
This follows months of pressure from US President Donald Trump urging Mexico to fight more fiercely against drug lords in Mexico, while Sheinbaum rejects an increased presence of US officials in Mexican soil to defend their sovereignty.