Ex-Chihuahua AG Jauregui Jailed on Treason Charge Over CIA Raid

César Jáuregui, Chihuahua's former attorney general, sits in the Altiplano federal prison northwest of Toluca, facing a treason charge that carries five to 40 years if he’s convicted. Federal agents took him into custody Sunday night, minutes after a state judge ruled he didn’t need pretrial detention on separate state charges. The swift handoff between prosecutors tells its own story.

Federal Attorney General's Office (FGR) agents detained Jáuregui in Chihuahua city after he appeared in state court on charges of unlawful exercise of public office and conspiracy by public officials. Authorities first arrested him on state and federal charges Saturday. By Monday morning, they’d flown him to Toluca, México state, and transferred him to prison.

The Allegation

The treason charge rests on the claim that Jáuregui allowed U.S. Central Intelligence Agency officers to join an April drug-lab raid in Chihuahua without the Mexican government's knowledge or authorization. Four CIA agents allegedly took part in a raid led by the state's AEI investigative agency. Afterward, two CIA agents and two Chihuahua state police officials, including the head of the AEI, died in a car accident in the municipality of Morelos, in the Sierra Tarahumara.

Jáuregui served as the state's attorney general from January 2023 until he resigned in April 2026. The Los Angeles Times reported in April that the raid on the weekend of April 18 and 19 was "at least the third time this year that CIA operatives joined authorities in the northern border state of Chihuahua in an operation against a drug target." Guillermo Arturo Zuany Portillo, former head of the Strategic Operations division of the Chihuahua Attorney General's Office, is wanted in connection with the raid but hasn’t been detained.

The Federal Case

Federal Attorney General Ernestina Godoy called the raid an "irregular operation" that amounted to "an attack on the federal pact and the separation of powers." She said Jáuregui allegedly "allowed foreign nationals to operate without authorization on Mexican territory and to carry out activities reserved exclusively for federal forces." She also said he allegedly "concealed information" from federal authorities. "The State Attorney General's Office, through its head, was required to inform the federal government [about the operation]. It did not do so," Godoy said.

Godoy added that the investigation file, "including through information provided by the [Chihuahua] State Attorney General's Office itself," shows the foreigners' participation "had no justification whatsoever." Federal authorities say that CIA officers’ participation, if confirmed, would violate Mexico's Constitution and National Security Law, which bar states from dismantling drug labs or transferring governmental powers to foreign authorities.

Politics and Open Questions

President Claudia Sheinbaum put most of the blame on Chihuahua authorities while also accusing the U.S. government of interference in Mexican affairs. At her Monday press conference, she said the state "did not have the authority to 'dismantle a [drug] laboratory.'" She called it "very irresponsible, to say the least," to allow foreign agents to join an unlawful ground operation, noting that officials and agents traveled a dangerous, winding road at night after the raid.

Sheinbaum said the FGR investigation isn’t finished and authorities are examining Jáuregui's involvement in "other matters." She said she knew of no FGR evidence linking Governor Maru Campos to any authorization of CIA participation. "That's what I know so far. It's up to the Federal Attorney General's Office to clarify," she said. Campos said in May that she hadn’t authorized or known about the CIA's presence in the border state.

Why This Matters:

The case puts a hard question on the table: who decides how Mexico fights organized crime on its own soil, and with whom? Federal officials insist the answer is Mexico City alone, and they’re willing to jail a former state prosecutor to make the point. That’s a chilling signal for anyone invested in cross-border security cooperation. State officials who work with U.S. partners now face the risk of treason charges. The reported pattern of earlier CIA participation in Chihuahua operations suggests cooperation was happening on the ground, even as federal law forbids it. Meanwhile, the governor's denial and the federal government's silence on her role leave accountability unevenly distributed. How Mexico resolves that tension will shape both the rule of law inside its federal system and the reliability of its security partnership with Washington.