CBS network and other US media have reported that the two Americans, who have not been identified, worked for the CIA. The US ambassador in Mexico on Sunday said only they were US embassy employees who died in a car accident.
On Wednesday, President Claudia Sheinbaum said that the federal government was investigating whether they had been operating in an internal security operation without authorization, in violation of national security laws.
“Evidently, the military didn’t know there were people participating who weren’t Mexican citizens...that there were foreigners participating in the operation,” Sheinbaum told reporters.
“This is something that Mexicans shouldn’t take lightly.”
In Washington, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that President Donald Trump believes “some sympathy from Claudia Sheinbaum would be well worth it for the two American lives that were lost.”
The Trump administration “wants to see more cooperation,” she said.
The Chihuahua state prosecutor said the Americans had been returning from a raid of clandestine drug labs when their car, which was in a five-vehicle convoy, skidded off the road and into a ravine. The convoy was also carrying soldiers and members of the Chihuahua State Investigation Agency.
