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Mexico City — <\/span>Mexican authorities on Wednesday continued to distort the official account of the role of two CIA agents. Anti-drug campaign in northern Mexico<\/a> And the extent to which Mexico’s federal government was aware of US involvement in the incident is beginning to create tension with the White House.<\/p>\n The incident has sparked speculation in the Latin American nation as Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has repeatedly underlined her country’s sovereignty for more than a year and publicly rejected offers<\/a> Intervention on cartels by US President Donald Trump. <\/p>\n The Mexican government acknowledges the presence of US agencies on Mexican territory but says they cannot participate in ground operations.<\/p>\n Mexican and American officials have been Offering contradictory accounts for days.<\/a> After the Mexican government originally said it had no knowledge of any type of operation or US involvement, the president acknowledged on Wednesday that federal forces were involved and another high-level official acknowledged that the government at least discussed the matter with the US.<\/p>\n The cooperation came to light this week when two local investigators and two CIA agents in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua \u2013 originally identified as US embassy officials \u2013 reportedly died in a car crash early Sunday morning while returning from an operation to destroy cartel laboratories in a rugged area of \u200b\u200bMexico. The local government said the convoy drove over the edge of a ravine and the car exploded.<\/p>\n The killed Americans were from the CIA, The Associated Press confirmed Tuesday, a U.S. official and two other people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters.<\/p>\n Sheinbaum said Wednesday that he had no knowledge of the operation between U.S. and local Chihuahua officials and that it could be a violation of Mexican law, since any such action must be approved by the federal government. <\/p>\n In her press conference she said that she was considering possible sanctions on the government of Chihuahua, and stressed that this operation is not a new security strategy by Trump in her country. He said he sent a letter to the U.S. Ambassador requesting that he provide all available information regarding the incident and that he planned to speak to the governor of Chihuahua.<\/p>\n “There cannot be agents of any U.S. government institution operating on Mexican territory,” Sheinbaum said Wednesday. “It’s very important not to let something like this go unnoticed.”<\/p>\n The CIA has a tainted legacy, particularly in Latin America, linked to decades of orchestrating coups and supporting military dictatorships in several countries. Despite this, the agency has maintained a presence in Mexico for many years, which has also been a subject of controversy in Mexican politics.<\/p>\n On Wednesday afternoon, White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt hit back at Sheinbaum’s comments, saying that U.S. efforts to combat cartels in Mexico “are beneficial not only to the American people, but to their people.”<\/p>\n Levitt said in an appearance on Fox News, “I think the President would agree that some sympathy from Claudia Sheinbaum would be appropriate for the two American lives that were lost, given what the United States is currently doing under this President to stop drug trafficking into the United States through Mexico.”<\/p>\n The Trump administration has provided little comment on the incident since Sunday’s crash. The CIA declined to comment Wednesday.<\/p>\n The back-and-forth comes after days of contradictions in accounts that have raised eyebrows and prompted experts to say it underlines America’s participation increased<\/a> In security operations in Mexico and throughout the region.<\/p>\n They continued on Wednesday when Sheinbaum admitted that Mexico’s military had taken part in the operation but did not know that US agents were present. A few days earlier, Chihuahua’s Attorney General C\u00e9sar Jauregui said the investigation came after months of investigation by state prosecutors and Mexico’s military.<\/p>\n Later on Wednesday, Security Secretary Omar Garc\u00eda Harfuch said at a press conference that the Defense Ministry had previously “received a petition for security assistance” by the US but, he added, that “supporting an operation is different from actually being part of the planning of an operation.”<\/p>\n \u201cAgents have never been in the field with us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n David Klepper and Aamer Madhani in Washington and Fabiola Sanchez in Mexico City contributed to this report.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n