MEXICO CITY, April 23 — Mexico’s government and the White House sparred Wednesday over the death of two Americans in connection to an anti-drug raid, after US media reported the officials were CIA personnel.

The two Americans died in a car accident on Sunday in the northern state of Chihuahua. Two Mexican investigators also died in the crash.

CBS network and other US media have reported that the two Americans, who have not been identified, worked for the Central Intelligence Agency. 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.

The US agents killed were “instructor officers” who “were carrying out training tasks” as part of anti-drug cooperation, according to prosecutor Cesar Jauregui.

On-the-ground cooperation between US law enforcement and Mexican security forces is historically rare and a politically sensitive topic in the country.

Sheinbaum has resisted the Trump administration’s threats to use airstrikes or ground troops to fight Mexican cartels, instead promoting intelligence sharing with the United States while local security forces attack crime groups.

Elite Mexican troops aided by US intelligence killed drug kingpin Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera in February, unleashing a wave of violence that left over 70 dead.

Chihuahua is one of only four out of 31 states governed by the conservative National Action Party, which opposes Sheinbaum’s left-leaning Morena party.

The leader said she planned to meet with the Chihuahua state governor to discuss the incident. — AFP