Cesar Juaregui must stand trial on treason charges over alleged CIA role

Authorities say the April operation proceeded without notifying the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Federal authorities in Mexico announced Sunday in Mexico City that Cesar Juaregui Moreno, the former district attorney for Chihuahua, must stand trial on treason charges over his alleged complicity in an April operation involving U.S. Central Intelligence Agency agents. The trial order followed a closed-door hearing before a judge.

President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed last week that she had clashed with Chihuahua governor Maru Campos Galvan over the treason investigation of the former prosecutor. She said Galvan referred the charges to federal authorities and told her of alleged links between Juaregui and other illegal activities.

Court order followed closed-door hearing and more than 150 pieces of evidence

The Attorney General of the Mexican Republic said in a social media post that the office obtained the trial order after a closed-door hearing and after “providing more than 150 pieces of evidence” to a judge. The office described that evidence as demonstrating Juaregui’s “possible involvement in the crime of treason against the homeland.”

Judge Ricardo Alfonso Santos Dorantes also agreed with prosecutors that Juaregui should remain held at El Altiplano, the country’s highest security prison, for the duration of the trial and until he is sentenced, La Jornada reported.

Authorities allege CIA participation in the April operation

Federal authorities allege that CIA agents took part in the deadly April operation to dismantle a drug laboratory in Chihuahua under Juaregui’s watch. The operation proceeded without notifying the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Mexico City, authorities said.

Two U.S. agents and two local officials died in a vehicle crash while returning from the remote, mountainous location where the operation occurred.

The deaths raised questions about national sovereignty over the level of cooperation between local Mexican officials and U.S. anti-drug operatives.

The attorney general’s office said Juaregui told the media that the operation resulted from months of planning between two areas under his charge: the State Investigation Agency and the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Strategic Operations. The office quoted Juaregui as saying that he would have hidden information because the institution in his charge had to inform the Federation “but it did not do so and, instead, he reported it to foreigners.”