The federal agents involved in the attack against two CIA agents in central Mexico last August have been charged with attempted murder, casting further doubt on previous assertions that the shooting was an accident.
On November 9, Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (PGR) formally charged 14 federal police officers with attempted murder, reported BBC Mundo.
The attack occurred on August 24 in central Morelos state when police agents in four unmarked vehicles opened fire on an armored diplomatic vehicle carrying two CIA personnel and a Mexican Navy captain. The US agents were injured in the attack and were immediately removed from the country.
The motive for the attack is still unclear and prosecutors in the case have stated that no theory will be overlooked, including the possibility that the police agents involved are linked to organized crime. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the government claimed that the officers mistook the car's occupants as suspects in a local kidnapping case. However, the fact that none of the officers were in uniform during the ambush has raised suspicions.
InSight Crime Analysis
One theory to emerge is that the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO) could have planned the attack. Both Mexican and US officials have stated on the condition of anonymity this may have been the case, with the former telling the Associated Press that the PGR was investigating links between the federal officers and the BLO.
While the BLO has suffered several blows in recent years, losing several top commanders, Morelos remains one of their strongholds where they have an alliance with the Zetas.
The incident is highly embarrassing for outgoing President Felipe Calderon. The federal police are the country’s premier law enforcement agency and are supposed to be less vulnerable to criminal infiltration than their state and municipal counterparts. The shadowy details of this case raise serious questions over just how reliable they can be in the fight against organized criminal groups.
SUBSCRIBE