Mexican Government Charges Border State AG with Treason for Working with U.S. to Fight Cartels

Mexico’s government criminally charged and arrested the former attorney general of the border state of Chihuahua. The arrest was not for corruption, drug trafficking, or ties with organized crime. Rather, he is being prosecuted for having worked with U.S. agencies to investigate and fight drug cartels in his state.

The Chihuahua attorney general’s effort led to the discovery and dismantling of one of the biggest drug manufacturing labs in the country’s history.

This week, Mexico’s Federal Attorney General’s Office announced the arrest of ex-Chihuahua Attorney General Cesar Jauregui as part of an ongoing criminal case against key members of that state for working with U.S. agencies, primarily the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, without federal approval. In a video shared on social media, Mexico’s Attorney General Ernestina Godoy claimed that Jauregui was being charged with treason in matters of national security.

As Breitbart Texas first reported, the issue began in April when state authorities announced the discovery and seizure of one of the largest clandestine drug labs in Mexico’s history. At the time, government officials at all levels praised the discovery as a way to show the U.S. that Mexico was cracking down on organized crime.

However, in the days after the initial announcement, two U.S. agents and some top-ranking Chihuahua law enforcement officials died in a crash as their convoy was returning from examining the labs. The deaths of the American officials sparked widespread outrage from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her government, who claimed only the federal level could coordinate with foreign officials. Citing national sovereignty, Sheinbaum called for an investigation into the Chihuahua government. As Breitbart Texas reported, under pressure from Sheinbaum’s government, Jauregui resigned in April and took the blame for the operation, partially protecting the state governor.

On the political side, Chihuahua is currently controlled by officials from the National Action Party, which is directly at odds with Sheinbaum’s Morena Party, which has been linked numerous times to various drug cartels. The most famous example came earlier this year when the U.S. Department of Justice criminally indicted the Governor of Sinaloa Ruben Rocha Moya and nine of his top allies (from the Morena Party) on drug conspiracy and weapons charges, accusing them of working for the Sinaloa Cartel. As Breitbart Texas has reported, rather than helping with arrests and extraditions, Sheinbaum publicly defended Rocha Moya and claimed there was no evidence of wrongdoing and that the charges were part of a political movement from the U.S. political right to harm her political party.

Several other Morena politicians have been implicated with various criminal organizations and have had their visas revoked by the U.S. government. Those individuals include sitting governors, mayors, senators, and congressmen, and even the son of Morena Party founder Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador; in all of those cases, Sheinbaum has rushed to defend her party members and publicly challenged the U.S. government, claiming foreign interference, Breitbart Texas has reported.

 Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected]. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].