The two American officials killed in a car crash last weekend in northern Mexico while returning from a counter-cartel operation did not have formal authorization for such activities in the country, the Mexican government announced.
In a statement released on Saturday morning, the Mexican federal security cabinet said that, according to immigration records, one of the two officials entered the country as a visitor — “without permission to engage in paid work” — and the other arrived on a diplomatic passport.
“The government of Mexico, the institutions comprising the security cabinet and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were unaware of any foreign agents operating, or planning to physically participate, in any operational activity within Mexican territory,” the statement said.
The New York Times and other outlets reported that the U.S. officials were C.I.A. officers. The two Americans, along with two Mexican officials, were killed early Sunday when their vehicle plunged off a remote mountain road while returning from an operation led by Mexico’s armed forces to dismantle a large clandestine methamphetamine lab in the state of Chihuahua, the state authorities said.
The deaths of the two Americans have raised urgent questions about the extent of U.S. involvement in the region’s drug war, and which Mexican authorities granted permission for the American officials to participate in this recent operation.
The C.I.A., which has taken on an expanded role in the war against drugs and trafficking groups in Latin America under President Trump, declined to comment.
The Mexican government said on Saturday that reviews were being conducted in coordination with local authorities and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico.
The Chihuahua governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment. The Chihuahua attorney general’s office declined to comment.
“Let us be clear, we have a common foe: criminal organizations who harm our families,” the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, said in a statement to The New York Times. “Families on both sides of the border want the security and safety that only working closely as partners can deliver.” Mr. Johnson did not directly comment on the officials’ lack of authorization from Mexico.
Mexico’s national security law forbids foreign agents, including U.S. military and law enforcement officials, from operating in the country without government authorization. American officials working directly with state-level authorities without federal approval would be a breach of the Constitution.
“International cooperation on security matters is carried out through mechanisms for information exchange, institutional coordination and technical collaboration, always with absolute respect for national sovereignty, reciprocity, mutual trust and without subordination,” said the federal security cabinet, which is made up of the Mexican armed forces, the attorney general’s office, and the security and foreign ministries.
Chihuahua’s attorney general insisted that the U.S. personnel were not involved in the antidrug operation and that it was led by Mexican forces. His office said that the American “instructors” went to the scene of the operation only after it unfolded for training purposes, “such as teaching the handling of drones.”
But his office, through previous news releases and a spokesman, appeared to contradict him. It said that the Americans had been killed while returning “from an operation to dismantle clandestine laboratories,” but later added they were part of an authorized training program to teach their Mexican counterparts how to handle dangerous synthetic drugs.
President Claudia Sheinbaum has said that the United States is “working alongside” Mexican authorities, and that if the ongoing investigation confirmed that the C.I.A. officers were engaged in a joint operation, her government would send a formal reprimand to the U.S. government.
Throughout her tenure, Ms. Sheinbaum has drawn a firm line: Cooperation with the United States is essential, but without U.S. troops operating on Mexican soil, which Mr. Trump has repeatedly vowed to pursue unilaterally. Even though the collaboration between the two countries has not always been smooth or assured, its progress under Ms. Sheinbaum has drawn praise in Washington.
On Friday, Ms. Sheinbaum said that Omar García Harfuch, Mexico’s top security official, met with and explained to Maru Campos, the governor of Chihuahua, the principles and laws for collaborating with a foreign government. “And in this case, the procedure was not followed,” Ms. Sheinbaum added.
Ms. Campos said that her administration would continue to “strengthen our collaboration with the Federal Government, with dialogue, trust and institutional responsibility, always in defense of our country’s sovereignty and integrity.”
On Friday, she announced the creation of a specialized unit to investigate the antidrug operation “in response to the importance of the case and with the goal of ensuring complete transparency.”
Julian E. Barnes contributed reporting.
