HomeNewsBrief4 More Mexico Police Commanders Implicated in CIA Shooting
BRIEF

4 More Mexico Police Commanders Implicated in CIA Shooting

BELTRAN LEYVA ORG / 19 NOV 2012 BY CLAIRE O NEILL MCCLESKEY EN

Federal prosecutors have charged four more federal police commanders with involvement in the August attack on two CIA agents in central Mexico, as the scandal deepens.

Federal prosecutors charged the officers in what the Attorney General's Office (Procuraduria General de la Republica - PGR) is now saying was a "direct" attack against two CIA agents in an area known as Tres Marias, reported El Universal.

The new charges follow the arrest of federal police commander Juan Manuel Pacheco Salgado on November 13, who was detained over accusations that he tried to cover up the details of the attack.

The 14 federal police officers directly involved in the attack, who were formally charged with attempted murder on November 9, told prosecutors that they acted under the orders of their superiors. At the press conference announcing the new charges, assistant prosecutor Victoria Pacheco Jimenez declined to give the names of the four accused commanders, but told the press that the highest ranking official charged was an Inspector General.

InSight Crime Analysis

In the immediate aftermath of the August 24 attack on the CIA agents -- in which Federal Police officers, traveling in unmarked vehicles and clad in civilian clothing, fired over 152 rounds at a diplomatic vehicle carrying two CIA agents and a Mexican Navy captain -- Mexican officials initially claimed the the police mistook the agents for kidnappers. While there was a kidnapping case in the area under investigation at the time, the PGR has discounted this scenario and now says the shooting was deliberate. This admission comes after weeks of speculation in the media, fueled by tips from anonymous US government sources, that the shooting was not accidental.

As shown in a video of the PGR press conference, the official inquiry concluded that the Federal Police, not the Mexican marine accompanying the CIA agents, opened fire first, and that all the shell cases discovered at the scene were discharged from the Federal Police officers' weapons. The diplomatic vehicle sustained 152 hits, the majority of which were aimed at the windows, which are some of the most vulnerable parts of an armed car. After the attack, the officers went to the police station to change into their uniforms. 

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

FENTANYL / 16 NOV 2022

Mexico’s two most powerful organized crime groups are reportedly sourcing precursor chemicals from the same suppliers to produce fentanyl.

ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME / 27 AUG 2021

Seizures of illegally harvested octopus off Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula are shedding light on how corruption in a coastal community facilitates…

EL COSS / 10 MAR 2023

The Gulf Cartel is among the oldest most powerful cartels in Mexico, but has lost territory in recent years.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…