Chihuahua Official Could Draw 40 Years for Field Operation With U.S. Agents

A federal judge is set to rule Saturday on whether César Jáuregui, the former attorney general of Chihuahua, will face trial on a treason charge carrying 5 to 40 years in prison. The case turns on his approval of a field operation involving U.S. personnel, a decision prosecutors say belonged to Mexico's federal government. Federal prosecutors filed the treason count after Jáuregui had already been arrested on Oct. 17 on state counts of illegal exercise of public office; a judge ruled Thursday those state charges can proceed to trial.

The operation dates to April 19, when the Chihuahua Attorney General's Office announced the dismantling of a drug lab in the municipality of Morelos, in the state's mountains. On the return trip, a vehicle in the convoy left the road and plunged into a ravine, killing two state officials and two Americans. The Mexican dead were Pedro Román Oseguera Cervantes, first commander of the state investigation agency, and officer Manuel Genaro Méndez Montes. Jáuregui said at the time that the two Americans were "instructor officers" working under binational anti-drug cooperation, and that the lab was "one of the largest sites found in the country where chemical drugs were produced." No arrests were made because suspects fled.

Jáuregui resigned after the deaths, saying he wanted to clear the way for an inquiry. Federal prosecutors say he endangered national security by clearing U.S. agents to join a field operation, authority reserved for the federal government. Defense attorney Héctor Villasana said prosecutors told a closed hearing they sought an exemplary punishment, pointing to the U.S. removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. State Department said it is aware of and watching the case but did not connect it to the CIA deaths.

Accounts of the Americans' roles differ. U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson called them "embassy personnel." Multiple people familiar with the matter later told CBS News they were CIA agents. The CIA declined to comment. Mexico's security ministry said one entered as a visitor and the other with a diplomatic passport, and neither carried accreditation for operational work. Two other U.S. agents in a separate vehicle were expelled, and President Claudia Sheinbaum said none had permission to operate in Mexico.

Legal analysts question whether the charge can stand. Samuel González, a former chief prosecutor for organized crime, said Jáuregui may have failed in his duties by not informing federal authorities or by letting foreign agents carry weapons, but said that falls short of treason, which he called a wartime crime. Carlos Pérez Ricart of CIDE university said the case carries large public weight even if dismissed and called it a political decision ahead of the 2027 midterm elections, adding that it "sends a very bad signal to Washington." Pérez Ricart also noted that such actions have often occurred without federal knowledge and that the absence of clear rules can produce abuses.

Mexico's Constitution now bars field operations without express Mexican authorization, an amendment Sheinbaum pushed through after former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had already limited U.S. agency activity in the country.