Former Chihuahua Prosecutor Charged With Treason Over US Agents' Role in Raid

Mexican federal prosecutors have charged César Gustavo Jáuregui Moreno, a former state prosecutor in the northern state of Chihuahua, with treason. The charge accuses him of allowing US agents to join a raid on a suspected drug laboratory in April without proper authorisation. A judge has ordered him held in pretrial detention, meaning he will remain in custody while the case proceeds, according to La Prensa.

Mexico's attorney general, Ernestina Godoy Ramos, said Jáuregui allowed foreign agents to carry out activities reserved for Mexican authorities and failed to share information. Jáuregui, who led Chihuahua's state prosecution service from 2023 until 2026, denied the federal treason allegations. He also told a state court hearing that he had neither instructed nor consented to the involvement of US agents in the operation.

Jáuregui is a member of the National Action Party (PAN), a conservative opposition party. He was arrested at the weekend. Separately, state-level charges in Chihuahua against him include abuse of public office. Mexican press reports have also described a treason accusation against a former official of the Strategic Operations unit in Chihuahua's prosecution office.

The case draws on events from April. On 19 April, a vehicle carrying a convoy back from an operation targeting suspected methamphetamine laboratories veered off the road into a ravine in Chihuahua, according to the BBC. The crash killed two US agents, who were reported to have worked for the CIA, and two members of the Chihuahua State Investigation Agency.

President Claudia Sheinbaum has repeatedly declined offers of US-led counter-narcotics operations in Mexico. Her government's position is that foreign officials may operate on Mexican soil only with prior federal clearance. A judge must still determine whether there is enough evidence to take the treason case forward.