Key facts
- Cesar Jauregui, former Chihuahua attorney general from 2023 to 2026, was charged with treason.
- Prosecutors allege Jauregui allowed US personnel to participate in an operation against a drug laboratory without federal authorization.
- Treason laws in Mexico are intended to punish conduct threatening national security, sovereignty, or independence.
- Mexico has not recorded a widely recognized treason conviction since 1867.
Mexican federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged Cesar Jauregui, a former state prosecutor for Chihuahua, with treason, reviving a serious and rarely used charge. Jauregui, who served as attorney general from 2023 to 2026, was arrested over the weekend. Federal authorities allege he improperly allowed US personnel to participate in an operation against a suspected drug laboratory in the northern border state without the authorization required under Mexican law. Attorney General Ernestina Godoy stated that Jauregui withheld information he was required to share and allowed foreign agents to carry out functions reserved for Mexico's federal government. Treason prosecutions are exceedingly rare in Mexico, with the last widely recognized conviction dating back to 1867. Mexican law broadly defines treason as acts against the country's independence, sovereignty, or territorial integrity carried out for the benefit of a foreign government, state, or group.