Mexico’s government said Saturday that two United States men who were working on its territory as intelligence agents were not authorized to carry out their activities.
According to US media reports, two people were killed in connection with a drug raid last weekend and are believed to be members of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Two Mexican officials were also killed in the April 19 incident in the northern state of Chihuahua, which involved a convoy of several vehicles carrying soldiers and members of the Chihuahua state investigative agency.
Chihuahua’s state prosecutor said the group was returning from a raid of clandestine drug laboratories when their car slid off the road and into a ravine.
The American agents killed were “instructor officers” who were “conducting training operations.”
Cooperation between US law enforcement and Mexican security forces within Mexico is historically rare and a politically sensitive topic in the country.
US citizens entered as tourists and diplomats
The incident could spark renewed diplomatic friction between the two neighbors, as Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum already faces pressure to manage a delicate relationship with the US amid demands from President Donald Trump that Mexico act more aggressively toward drug cartels.
Mexico’s security ministry said in a statement that immigration records showed that one of the two agents entered the country as a “visitor”, while the other used a “diplomatic passport”.
The ministry said Mexican law prohibits foreign agents from participating in operations on Mexican soil.
“Neither of them had formal accreditation to participate in operational activities within the national territory,” the statement said.
The two US citizens have not been identified, but the US Ambassador to Mexico said they were US Embassy employees.
Edited by: Sam Dusan Inayatullah