Mexico denies CNN report of CIA role in explosion that killed cartel member
Mexico’s government has denied a CNN report that CIA officers were involved in a deadly explosion that killed an alleged Sinaloa Cartel operative and his driver near Mexico City, saying foreign agencies do not carry out lethal or unilateral operations on Mexican territory.
The explosion happened on March 28 in Tecamac, a municipality in the State of Mexico, just outside the capital. CNN reported that the State of Mexico’s attorney general had told the network that an explosive device had been hidden inside the vehicle.
Francisco Beltrán, known as “El Payín,” was killed along with his driver when the device detonated inside the vehicle as it traveled on a busy highway, according to reports at the time of the incident.
Citing multiple sources, CNN reported that Beltrán was an alleged mid-level member of the Sinaloa Cartel and that the attack was a targeted assassination facilitated by CIA operations officers. The operation was allegedly led by the agency’s Ground Branch, a secretive paramilitary unit.
The report said the operation was part of an expanded CIA campaign inside Mexico aimed at dismantling cartel networks, with operatives taking part in deadly attacks against several mostly mid-level cartel figures since last year.
“Regarding CNN’s report about an explosion in Tecámac, State of Mexico, which alleged CIA involvement in operations against cartels, the Government of Mexico categorically rejects any version that seeks to normalize, justify or suggest the existence of lethal, covert or unilateral operations by foreign agencies on national territory,” Mexico’s security secretary Omar García Harfuch said in a statement.
“Any international cooperation is limited to the exchange of information, institutional coordination and formal mechanisms established by the Government of Mexico,” García Harfuch added.
The State of Mexico Attorney General’s Office rejected CNN’s claim that the office had informed the network that “an explosive device had been hidden inside the vehicle.” The office said its investigation into the March 28 deaths remains open and that, so far, it has reached no conclusion on the causes or circumstances of the deaths.
CIA spokesperson Liz Lyons also denied the report.
“This is false and salacious reporting that serves as nothing more than a PR campaign for the cartels and puts American lives at risk,” Lyons said.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
