Mexico: 2 dead US agents had no permission to raid drug lab

FILE – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during her daily morning press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)

Mexico said Saturday two US agents who died after an operation to dismantle a suspected Mexican narcotics lab had no permission to be carrying out operations of this kind.The April 19 incident in the northern state of Chihuahua, which also left two Mexican officials dead, has created fresh diplomatic friction between the US and Mexico, and heaped pressure on President Claudia Sheinbaum.Immigration records showed one of the two agents entered the country as a “visitor” while the other used a “diplomatic passport,” Mexico’s security ministry said in a statement. “Neither had formal accreditation to participate in operational activities within national territory.”Several US media outlets have reported that the two Americans, who have not been identified, worked for the Central Intelligence Agency. The US ambassador in Mexico has said they were US embassy employees. The security ministry’s statement noted that Mexican law forbids foreign agents from participating in operations on Mexico’s soil.