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Ex-prosecutor Charged with Treason Over US Drug Raid
Confirmed
In Short: Federal prosecutors in Mexico have charged César Jáuregui Moreno with treason, alleging that he permitted US agents to participate in a drug raid in Chihuahua without the necessary authorization.
The incident came to light after a car crash on April 19, which killed two US agents and two Mexican law enforcement officials returning from the operation.
Jáuregui, who was the state attorney general at the time, initially stated that the US agents were 'instructor officers' from the US embassy involved in training exercises.
However, President Claudia Sheinbaum later indicated that her government was unaware of the US agents' involvement in the drug operation, raising questions about the adherence to Mexican law.
Matias Gomez Leautaud, an analyst at the Eurasia Group, suggested that the treason charge aims to prevent future cooperation between Mexican states and the US government without federal approval.
The raid targeted suspected methamphetamine labs in a remote, mountainous area of Chihuahua, a state long central to Mexico's fight against organized crime.
Sheinbaum has faced pressure from US President Donald Trump to crack down on drug trafficking but has consistently declined offers of US-led counter-narcotics operations.
The treason charge is a rare move in Mexico, with no widely recognized conviction since 1867, when Emperor Maximilian was executed for violating Mexico's sovereignty.
Jáuregui's arrest and the subsequent charges have drawn scrutiny and pitted Sheinbaum against opposition Governor Maru Campos, highlighting the tension between federal and state cooperation in drug enforcement efforts.
What this adds
The exact nature and extent of the US agents' involvement in the drug raid remains unclear, with conflicting statements from various officials.
The incident has sparked debate over the balance between national sovereignty and international cooperation in combating drug trafficking.
What's confirmed
- In a news release on April 20, Jauregui “ruled out the involvement of foreign personnel” in his state’s drug operations.
- Matias Gomez Leautaud, an analyst at the Eurasia Group, a US-based risk consultancy firm, told the news service Reuters that the treason charge “seeks to set a precedent and prevent cooperation between [Mexican] states and the US government without the federal government’s coordination and approval”.
- “Evidently, the military didn’t know there were people participating who weren’t Mexican citizens,” Sheinbaum told reporters at the time.
- News outlets, citing anonymous sources, reported that the US agents had been collaborating with state law enforcement in the destruction of a drug lab.
- “We have to eradicate them,” Trump said of the cartels in March.
- “It is worth explaining what happened, in order to clarify the facts that are causing some confusion,” Jauregui said at the time.
- Mexico has taken the rare step of charging a former state prosecutor with treason, alleging that he allowed United States agents to take part in a drug raid on the country’s territory.
- In the days after the April car crash, Sheinbaum indicated that her government was not aware that US agents had been involved in a drug operation in Chihuahua.
What's still developing
- At the time, in his capacity as state attorney general, Jáuregui told a news conference that the Americans had been "instructor officers" from the US embassy engaged in "training work as part of the general and normal exchange we have with the US authorities".
- César Jáuregui Moreno (pictured) was arrested over the weekend Federal prosecutors in Mexico have charged a former state prosecutor with treason for allowing US agents to join a raid on a suspected drugs lab in April without proper authorisation.
- Former Chihuahua prosecutor Cesar Jauregui arrives at the premises of Mexico’s Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) to be questioned about the deaths of two CIA agents in a car crash following a security operation to dismantle a drug lab last month in Guachochi, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, May 27, 2026.