Mexican Security Official Denies CIA Involvement in Cartel-Related Explosion

Mexican Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection Omar García Harfuch has rejected reports that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) facilitated a lethal operation against a cartel member near the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA).

Key points

• CNN reported that a March explosion in Tecámac, State of Mexico, which killed cartel member Francisco 'El Payín' Beltrán, was part of a lethal CIA operation.
• The CIA's spokesperson, Liz Lyons, dismissed the report as false and described it as a public relations campaign for cartels.
• The Mexican government emphasized that security cooperation with the United States is limited to information exchange and respects national sovereignty.
• The controversy coincides with a political move by the Morena party to strip the governor of Chihuahua, María Eugenia Campos Galván, of her immunity over alleged unauthorized foreign agent participation.

Why it matters

The allegations of unauthorized lethal operations by a foreign intelligence agency in Mexico touch on sensitive issues of national sovereignty and bilateral security cooperation.