Two U.S. embassy officials who died in an automobile accident in northern Mexico as they returned from the scene of a counternarcotic operation worked for the Central Intelligence Agency as part of a significantly expanded role in battling narcotics trafficking in the Western Hemisphere, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The deadly car crash Sunday in the state of Chihuahua also took the lives of two Mexican officials and prompted Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to say she would investigate whether the operation ran afoul of the country’s national security laws.
The CIA declined to comment.
