MEXICO CHARGES FORMER CHIHUAHUA PROSECUTOR WITH TREASON

Mexican federal prosecutors have charged César Jáuregui Moreno, a former attorney general of Chihuahua state, with treason over the participation of US agents in an April operation against suspected methamphetamine laboratories. Prosecutors accuse him of allowing foreign agents to carry out work reserved for Mexican authorities without authorisation. Attorney General Ernestina Godoy Ramos also said Jáuregui failed to share information about the operation. Jáuregui denies the allegations. Authorities arrested him at the weekend, and a judge ordered him held in pretrial detention.

The case follows a crash on 19 April, when a convoy returning from the operation left a road and fell into a ravine in a remote, mountainous part of Chihuahua. Two US agents and two Mexican law enforcement officers died. On 20 April, Jáuregui said foreign personnel had not taken part in Chihuahua’s drug operations. He described the Americans as “instructor officers” carrying out training work. He said US instructors had been nearby for drone training and had asked to travel with the Mexican convoy to the airport.

Jáuregui served as Chihuahua’s attorney general from 2023 until his resignation later in April and belongs to the opposition PAN party. He also faces state charges, including abuse of public office, and told a court on Sunday that he neither ordered nor agreed to US participation. A hearing on the federal charge is scheduled for Saturday, when a judge must decide whether enough evidence exists to proceed. President Claudia Sheinbaum has said foreign officials require prior federal clearance to operate in Mexico and has rejected offers of US-led operations against drug trafficking. US President Donald Trump has pressed her government to take stronger action against drug trafficking.