Judge to rule Saturday on treason case tied to April raid deaths

A Mexican judge will decide Saturday whether a treason indictment moves forward.

Federal prosecutors say César Jáuregui, formerly Chihuahua's top law enforcement official, authorized U.S. agents to join an April 19 operation against a drug lab in the state's mountains without notifying the federal government. That authority, they argue, belongs to Mexico City, not the states. The charge carries 5 to 40 years in prison.

The operation targeted what Jáuregui described at the time as "one of the largest sites found in the country where chemical drugs were produced." The Chihuahua Attorney General's Office announced that day the lab in the municipality of Morelos had been dismantled. No arrests followed because suspects fled.

On the return trip, a vehicle in the convoy left the road and went into a ravine. Two state officials and two Americans died. The Mexican dead were Pedro Román Oseguera Cervantes, first commander of the state investigation agency, and officer Manuel Genaro Méndez Montes. Jáuregui said then that the Americans were "instructor officers" carrying out training under binational anti-drug cooperation.

Jáuregui resigned afterward to make room for an inquiry. He was arrested Oct. 17 on state counts of illegal exercise of public office, and a judge ruled Thursday those charges can go to trial. Federal officials then added the treason count.

Legal specialists are skeptical the treason charge can stand. Samuel González, a former chief prosecutor for organized crime, said Jáuregui may have breached duties by keeping federal authorities in the dark or by letting foreign agents carry weapons, but that this falls short of treason, which he called a wartime crime. Carlos Pérez Ricart of CIDE said the case would carry large public weight even if dismissed and called it a political decision ahead of the 2027 midterm elections. He said it "sends a very bad signal to Washington."

Accounts of the Americans' roles differ. U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson called them "embassy personnel." Multiple people familiar with the matter later told CBS News they were CIA agents. The CIA declined to comment. Mexico's security ministry said one entered as a visitor and the other on a diplomatic passport, and that neither held accreditation for operational work. Two other U.S. agents in a separate vehicle were expelled afterward, and President Claudia Sheinbaum said none had permission to operate in Mexico.

The State Department said it is aware of and watching the case but did not connect it to the CIA deaths. Héctor Villasana, Jáuregui's defense attorney, said prosecutors told a closed hearing they wanted an exemplary punishment to head off a situation like the U.S. removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

U.S. agencies have worked in Mexico for years. Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador curtailed their activities, and Sheinbaum amended the Constitution to bar field operations without express Mexican authorization. Pérez Ricart said such actions have often occurred without federal knowledge and that without clear rules they can lead to abuses.