Federal-State Power Clash in Chihuahua Treason Case

César Jáuregui, Chihuahua’s former attorney general, now faces a federal treason charge. Authorities took him into custody over allegations that CIA officers joined a drug-lab raid without approval from Mexico’s federal government. The case turns on who could authorize security operations on Mexican territory, and which level of government held that power.

Who Had Authority

Federal Attorney General Ernestina Godoy said the Constitution and National Security Law bar states from taking powers reserved for the federal government or handing governmental powers to foreign authorities. “State authorities lacked the legal authority to carry out activities reserved exclusively for the federal government,” Godoy said, referring to dismantling drug labs.

The Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) investigated the allegations and determined that Jáuregui allegedly let foreign nationals operate without authorization, carrying out activities reserved for federal forces. “This undermines the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Godoy said, describing conduct prohibited by the Constitution.

The alleged operation was a raid led by Chihuahua’s State Investigation Agency (AEI). Four CIA agents allegedly took part. After the operation in the municipality of Morelos, in the Sierra Tarahumara, two CIA agents and two Chihuahua state police officials died in a car accident. The state officials included the AEI’s head.

The Los Angeles Times reported in April that the raid, which took place 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.” The base article reports no financial beneficiaries or labor groups connected to the operation.

The Arrests and Charges

Jáuregui appeared in a state court Sunday, facing charges brought by the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office: unlawful exercise of public office and conspiracy by public officials. A judge ruled Sunday night that he didn’t need to remain in pretrial detention on those state charges. Federal agents then took him into custody on the federal treason charge.

He was arrested Saturday on state and federal charges. Authorities flew him to Toluca, México state, and transferred him to the Altiplano federal prison, northwest of Toluca, on Monday morning. If convicted, he faces a prison sentence of five to 40 years.

Jáuregui served as Chihuahua’s attorney general from January 2023 until he resigned in April 2026. Guillermo Arturo Zuany Portillo, former head of the Strategic Operations division of the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office, is wanted in connection with the April raid but hasn’t been detained.

Godoy said the state attorney general’s office had to inform the federal government about the operation. “It did not do so,” she said, adding that Jáuregui allegedly concealed information from federal authorities. She said the investigation file included information from the Chihuahua State Attorney General’s Office, and that the foreign agents’ participation “had no justification whatsoever.”

Federal and State Responses

President Claudia Sheinbaum placed most of the blame for the alleged illegal security collaboration on Chihuahua authorities, while also accusing the U.S. government of interfering in Mexican affairs. Chihuahua Governor Maru Campos said in May that she hadn’t authorized or known about the CIA’s presence in the state.

At her Monday morning press conference, Sheinbaum said Chihuahua’s government didn’t have authority to “dismantle a [drug] laboratory.” The FGR held that authority, she said. She called it “very irresponsible, to say the least,” to let foreign agents join a ground operation against the law. State officials and CIA agents, she said, traveled on a dangerous, winding road at night after the raid.

The FGR investigation remains unfinished, Sheinbaum said, and authorities are investigating Jáuregui’s involvement in “other matters.” She said she knew of no FGR evidence linking Governor Campos to state authorities’ alleged authorization of CIA participation, and added that the FGR would have to clarify the matter.