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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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Two U.S. Embassy officials and two Mexican officials died in a car crash in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, as they were returning from a drug eradication operation early on Sunday, according to authorities.
The U.S. and Mexico conduct joint security cooperation to tackle arms and drug trafficking across their shared border with the two U.S. Embassy victims described as “instructors” who were taking part in standard training work.
The group was returning from an operation to destroy clandestine laboratories in the municipality of Morelos. Morelos is located only 45 miles from Mexico City and about 360 miles southwest of the U.S.-Mexico border at the Good Neighbor Bridge crossing in El Paso, Texas.
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"We honor their dedication and tireless efforts to confront one of the greatest challenges of our time. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their loved ones," U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson wrote on X.
“This tragedy is a solemn reminder of the risks faced by those Mexican and U.S. officials who are dedicated to protecting our communities.
“It strengthens our resolve to continue their mission and advance our shared commitment to security and justice, to protect our people.”
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What Do We Know About the Officials’ Death?
In a press conference held on Sunday, Chihuahua Attorney General César Jáuregui Moreno identified the two Mexican victims as Chihuahua’s State Investigation Agency director Pedro Román Oseguera Cervantes and agent Manuel Genaro Méndez Montes.
The two U.S. officials have not yet been identified but were conducting "training, advising, and courses as part of a routine exchange," according to the attorney general via El Pais.
Newsweek contacted the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico for comment by email on Monday morning, outside of standard working hours.
Jáuregui Moreno gave more details than Johnson about the incident that occurred on the Chihuahua–Ciudad Juárez highway, saying that the vehicle the four were traveling in skidded off the road and into a ravine at about 2 a.m. local time.
U.S. authorities have not yet confirmed the cause of the incident.
The state attorney general said that it had taken investigators roughly three months to locate the site of the six clandestine laboratories in Morelos which were destroyed on Friday and Saturday. They were used to produce synthetic drugs. he said.
**“**It is one of the largest sites found in the country where chemical drugs were being produced,” Jáuregui Moreno said.
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