A former Mexican state prosecutor who helped the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) conduct secret operations alongside local security forces has fled to the United States and is now under the protection of the US government, according to American and Mexican officials.
Guillermo Zuany Portillo, who faces an arrest warrant in Mexico, facilitated the CIA’s activities in Chihuahua state for more than six months beginning last year. American intelligence officers trained local security personnel, accompanied them on operations against drug-trafficking targets and provided intelligence and operational guidance during missions, according to a New York Times investigation published this week.
The activities exposed a sensitive arrangement at odds with President Claudia Sheinbaum’s repeated insistence that American forces should not participate directly in operations on Mexican territory. She has described such involvement as a violation of Mexico’s sovereignty. Under the Trump administration, however, the CIA sought to expand its operations in the country and regarded Zuany as a partner who could help facilitate its activities discreetly.
The secret cooperation came to light after a vehicle accident in April killed two CIA officers, triggering a national political scandal and forcing Zuany to resign. Although an investigation determined that the crash was accidental, Mexican authorities subsequently issued an arrest warrant for him over his involvement with the American agency.
Sheinbaum has expressed anger over the CIA’s presence during operations in Chihuahua and denied prior knowledge of its activities. Speaking at her regular morning news conference on Wednesday, she said investigations into the arrangement must continue.
“It’s worth finding out who this person is and how he worked with one of the U.S. agencies,” she said, referring to Zuany.
Mexican authorities have also arrested César Jáuregui, Chihuahua’s former attorney general and Zuany’s former superior, accusing him of treason for allegedly facilitating the CIA’s presence in the state. He is being held in a maximum-security prison. Zuany reportedly fled to the United States after Jáuregui’s arrest by Chihuahua state police, according to Mexican and American officials. His whereabouts in the country remained unclear on Thursday.
The Mexican federal government has also ordered Zuany’s arrest, Security Minister Omar García Harfuch confirmed at a daily news conference following the publication of the investigation.
The case has taken a further turn because the US government had previously cancelled Zuany’s American visa late last year, citing alleged connections to drug cartels in Chihuahua. The cancellation was detailed in a letter sent by the Mexican government to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), according to people familiar with his visa status and the document.
The visa was subsequently reinstated late last year after Zuany facilitated the CIA’s cooperation with Mexican security forces, officials from both countries said. The FBI had also been investigating allegations that he had links to organised crime, although the status of that investigation remains unclear. The bureau did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Zuany did not respond to a request for comment either.
The CIA’s activities in Chihuahua involved a sustained presence alongside state police units. Mexican officials said an American intelligence officer observed tactical training exercises, assessed police equipment and participated in physical training with state agents. CIA personnel also accompanied Zuany and police units during operations targeting drug-trafficking organisations.
Some officers were armed during these missions, according to Mexican officials who witnessed them. They generally wore tactical equipment and, on several occasions, jackets bearing Chihuahua state insignia. They also carried computers or tablets that appeared to provide access to real-time information, according to officials and the arrest-warrant request.
Details in the warrant request describe one operation in March during which Zuany and an American believed to be a CIA officer discussed the positioning of state agents. In another operation, an armed CIA officer provided security while Mexican police entered safe houses in search of suspected drug traffickers.
The American officers did not directly participate in combat, but primarily provided intelligence and operational direction, frequently through Zuany, according to the officials and the warrant request.
In a statement, the office of Chihuahua Governor Maru Campos described the allegations against Zuany and Jáuregui as “a serious failure”, adding that she had accepted responsibility for correcting the oversight mechanisms that had allowed the arrangement to take place.
