WASHINGTON — Two U.S. officials killed in a vehicle crash as they returned from destroying a clandestine drug lab in a rugged region of Mexico over the weekend were working for the CIA, according to a U.S. official and two other people familiar with matter.
Two Mexican investigators also were killed in the crash, which Mexican authorities said occurred while the officials were returning from an operation to destroy drug labs of criminal groups.
The CIA’s involvement was confirmed Tuesday by a U.S. official and two people with knowledge of the crash who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters. The identity of the two Americans as CIA officers was earlier reported by the Washington Post.
Confirmation of the CIA’s involvement comes after days of contradictions from Mexican and U.S. authorities about the role U.S. officials played in an operation to bust a narco-laboratory in northern Chihuahua.
The lack of clarity by authorities reignited a debate over the extent of U.S. involvement in Mexican security operations at a moment when Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has come under extreme pressure by President Trump’s administration to crack down on cartels.
The U.S. Embassy has declined to identify who the U.S. officials were or which entity of the U.S. government they worked for but said the officials were “supporting Chihuahua state authorities’ efforts to combat cartel operations.”
On Tuesday, it did not comment on reports that the officials were with the CIA. The CIA also declined to comment about the identities of the Americans killed in the crash.
Local Mexican officials originally claimed that they were working together with U.S. officials, then later walked those comments back.
Sheinbaum said she knew nothing of a joint operation between Chihuahua’s government and the U.S., despite reports that the Mexican army was also involved in the raid on the lab.
On Tuesday, the president maintained in her morning press briefing that she didn’t know if the officials were part of the CIA, but she admitted that state officials and the U.S. “were working together.”
It’s a sensitive issue for the Mexican leader as she walks a careful line with the Trump administration, working to maintain a strong relationship to offset threats of U.S. intervention on cartels and tariffs while also underscoring Mexico’s sovereignty.
The CIA has recently expanded its collaboration with Mexican authorities, part of the Trump administration’s effort to stop the flow of illicit drugs. Last year, Sheinbaum said that U.S. drone surveillance flights over her country were being done at her request.
Janetsky, Klepper and Madhani write for the Associated Press. Janetsky reported from Mexico City. AP writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report.
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