Mexico's Sheinbaum demands explanation after US officials die after
operation in Chihuahua
[April 21, 2026]
By MEGAN JANETSKY and MARÍA VERZA
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday she
would demand explanations over what U.S. and Mexican officials were
doing in northern Chihuahua when they died in an accident over the
weekend, noting that any joint collaborations between the local
government and the U.S. without federal permission would be a violation
of Mexican law.
The crash, following an operation to destroy a clandestine drug lab in a
rural area, has reignited a debate over the extent of U.S. involvement
in Mexican security operations. Speculation was only fueled by Sheinbaum,
local officials and the U.S. Embassy appearing to contradict each other
and at times themselves, and offering sparse details about the U.S.
officials who died.
“It was not an operation that the security cabinet was aware of,”
Sheinbaum told journalists. “We were not informed; it was a decision by
the Chihuahua government.”
It comes at a key moment for the relationship between the two
neighboring nations as Mexico faces escalating pressure from U.S.
President Donald Trump crack down on cartels and Sheinbaum underscores
Mexico’s sovereignty.
Sheinbaum said her government would investigate the incident to ensure
no laws were broken after the deaths on Sunday, adding that state
governments must have authorization from Mexico's federal government to
collaborate with U.S. and other foreign entities “as established by the
Constitution.”
A mountainside car crash
Chihuahua Attorney General César Jáuregui said Sunday the officials died
while returning from the operation to destroy labs of criminal groups.
They were driving in the middle of the night through rugged mountain
territory connecting Chihuahua to the state of Sinaloa, when the truck
“appears to have skidded at some point and fell into a ravine,
exploding.”
He said the four who died were two local Mexican investigative officials
and two U.S. Embassy instructors who were participating in routine
“training work.”
The U.S. Embassy on Monday declined to identify who the U.S. officials
were or which entity of the U.S. government they worked for, but said
the officials were “supporting Chihuahua state authorities’ efforts to
combat cartel operations.” U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson expressed his
condolences on social media but he and other officials provided few
details of the incident.
Jáuregui said that the operation came following months of investigation
by state prosecutors and Mexico's federal military, indicating there was
at least some level of involvement in the operation from Sheinbaum’s
security forces. Hours later, the Mexican Security Cabinet confirmed
that the army and state prosecutor’s office carried out a joint
operation over the weekend in Chihuahua dismantling drug labs in the
same location, Morelos.
After locating the labs using drones, officials found tons of material
to manufacture drugs but no people, who were likely alerted beforehand
and fled, the prosecutor added.
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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum addresses the media at the
Meeting in Defence of Democracy summit, in Barcelona, Spain,
Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
The local official later backtracked and clarified to press that
there “were no U.S. agents in the operation to secure the narco-lab,"
and said the embassy officials joined the group after the operation
and were several hours away from where the action took place.
A resurfaced debate
Sheinbaum said her government would provide more information when it
has more details, but insisted Monday that “there are no joint
operations on land or in the air" in Mexico. She said there is only
sharing of information between her government and the U.S., carried
out within a “well-established” legal framework.
While U.S. officials’ training of Mexican security forces is common,
their presence on Mexican territory has been the subject of ongoing
debate, which has intensified after Trump’s military actions in
Venezuela and Iran.
Trump has repeatedly offered to take action on Mexican cartels,
intervention which Sheinbaum has said was “unnecessary. ” The Trump
administration has already launched joint military operations in
Ecuador, a country that has been roiled by violence by drug gangs in
recent years.
Last year, Sheinbaum said the U.S. had conducted surveillance drone
flights at Mexico’s request after a series of conflicting public
statements on the issue, also sparking alarm among observers.
The most recent controversy surfaced in January over the detention
in Mexico of former Canadian athlete Ryan Wedding, one of the United
States’ most wanted fugitives. While Mexican officials claim he
surrendered at the U.S. Embassy, U.S. authorities have described his
capture as the result of a binational operation.
The recent debacle comes at a pivotal time in U.S.-Mexico relations.
The second round of negotiations between the United States and
Mexico on the United States-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement, the
USMCA, was slated to begin in Mexico City. The U.S. delegation is
led by Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who was scheduled to
meet with the president on Monday.
That same day, the Trump administration also announced it was
imposing visa restrictions on family members of the Cartel de
Sinaloa.
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