April 21 (UPI) -- Two U.S. embassy officials who died in a car crash in northern Mexico after they left the site of a drug raid worked for the Central Intelligence Agency, unnamed sources told multiple media outlets Tuesday.
The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN all reported the story. Two Mexican officials also died in the accident, which took place on the Chihuahua-Ciudad Juárez highway as the officials were returning after an anti-drug operation in the Morelos municipality. Sources said the crash was under investigation. The CIA did not comment.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the prosecutor's office would investigate if the operation was in keeping with the country's national security laws and constitution. She said Monday that the government was unaware of any "direct collaboration" between the state of Chihuahua and the U.S. Embassy.
"The relationship is federal, not state," she said, CNN reported. "They must have authorization from the federal government for this collaboration, which necessarily takes place at the state level, as established by the Constitution."
Sheinbaum said that if an investigation showed the CIA officials were taking part in a joint operation, the Mexican government would send a formal reprimand to the U.S. government, The New York Times reported.
