Two US Embassy officials were among four investigators killed in a car crash in Mexico following a daring operation to shut down a clandestine drug laboratory.
Their car was in a convoy of six trying to navigate mountainous terrain in Chihuahua at around 2 a.m. Sunday morning when it plunged 200 meters off a cliff before bursting into a fireball, the New York Times reported.
Pedro Ramón Oseguera Cervantes, the director of Chihuahua’s State Investigation Agency, and his bodyguard Manuel Genaro Méndez Montes were killed, while the investigators from the Embassy have not yet been identified.
Three people were ejected from the car, while one person was found trapped inside. All four were dead at the scene.
The investigators were returning from an operation in Morelos when the accident happened on the Chihuahua-Ciudad Juárez highway, and Ronald Johnson, the US ambassador to Mexico, said he was left “deeply saddened” by their deaths.
“We honor their dedication and tireless efforts to confront one of the greatest challenges of our time,” he wrote on X.
“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.”
During the weekend, investigators shut down six clandestine drug labs, Fox News reported, and equipment such as ovens and gas cylinders were seized.
Cesar Jáuregui Moreno, the Chihuahua state attorney general, described one such lab as “one of the largest found in the country” where methamphetamine was produced.
The daring operations happened just two months after Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the crime boss of the brutal Jalisco New Generation Cartel, was killed in a raid that saw Mexico’s full military might unleashed – and aided by US intelligence.
“El Mencho” was wanted in the US for the importation of fentanyl, and a staggering $15 million was up for grabs for information leading to his arrest.
With Post wires.
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