Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is demanding answers after the deaths of two U.S. officials in northern Mexico.
The officials, as of yet unidentified by the U.S. government, died in a car crash along with two Mexican officials on Sunday, the Associated Press reported. The car crash happened in Chihuahua following a mission to destroy drug labs in northern Mexico.
"It was not an operation that the security cabinet was aware of," Sheinbaum said. "We were not informed; it was a decision by the Chihuahua government."
CBS News noted that the incident raised questions about the extent of U.S. involvement in Mexican security operations. Under Mexican law, any cooperation between a foreign government and Mexican law enforcement would need approval by the Mexican federal government, not just local authorities.
Chihuahua Attorney General César Jáuregui said that the four individuals were driving in a mountainous area when their vehicle went off the road, crashed, and exploded. The crash happened along the Chihuahua and Sinaloa border.
Despite Sheinbaum's statements, Jáuregui said the drug lab operation resulted from several months of investigation that involved Mexico's federal military and state prosecutors. The AP reported that the Mexican Security Cabinet confirmed that the Mexican Army and state prosecutors had a joint operation in Chihuahua.
In a press release announcing the car crash, the Chihuahua Attorney General's office stated that "two instructor officers from the United States Embassy...died in an accident while returning from the operation to destroy clandestine laboratories in the municipality of Morelos."
Also killed were two members of the Chihuahua State Investigation Agency, Pedro Román Oseguera Cervantes and officer Manuel Genaro Méndez Montes.
The release states that the Americans were "two instructor officers from the United States Embassy, who were carrying out training work as part of the exchange that is generally and normally carried out with the American authorities, also died in the accident."
Although the release seemed to imply the U.S. officials were involved in the operation, local officials later said that they were hours away at the time in occurred, the AP reported.
Sheinbaum told the AP that "there are no joint operations on land or in the air" in Mexico. She added that there is information sharing through Mexico and the U.S. government that happens through a "well-established" system.
U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson acknowledged the deaths of U.S. personnel on social media.
"We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of two U.S. Embassy personnel," he wrote. "This tragedy is a solemn reminder of the risks faced by those Mexican and U.S. officials who are dedicated to protecting our communities."
