‘I Don’t See Grounds to Accuse Me’: Ex-Chihuahua Prosecutor Jáuregui Denies Charges Over Raid That Killed 2 Americans — Bodyguard Says 4 Men Left a Top Aide’s Office the Day It Began

By The Narco Blog · October 18, 2026

César Jáuregui Moreno, Chihuahua’s former state prosecutor, told a judge on Sunday, Oct. 18, “No veo elementos para que me acusen” (“I don’t see grounds to accuse me”), at his first hearing over the April drug-lab raid that ended with two Americans dead. Prosecutors say he ordered four foreigners into that operation without federal approval. They also read a bodyguard’s statement that four men walked out of a top aide’s office the morning the raid began. The newspaper Tiempo reported his words and the testimony the same day. Jáuregui has not been convicted.

What prosecutors told the judge

Jáuregui is charged with illegal exercise of public office and “coalición” (a conspiracy-type offense among officials) in state case 3055/2026, Infobae and ADN (A Diario) reported Oct. 18. Prosecutors say that in April he and Guillermo Arturo Zuany Portillo, then head of Strategic Operations, agreed to bring in and keep four foreign nationals, bypassing federal approval rules. They say the operation began April 16 in El Pinal, in the municipality of Morelos. Our earlier report, citing Telediario, dated the lab raids to April 17–18.

ADN said prosecutors accuse Jáuregui of hiding information about the foreigners after the crash. On April 19 he publicly said they had been in the area for drone training.

Tiempo reported testimony from Zuany’s bodyguard, which prosecutors read in court. On April 16 the bodyguard saw state investigations chief Pedro Román Oseguera leave Zuany’s office, followed by four men. After Oseguera died, Zuany allegedly sent him to collect a suitcase from a Holiday Inn Suites room. A state agent separately testified she was ordered to pick up belongings of a “John Black” from a Chihuahua hotel room.

Judge throws out the co-accused’s statement

Judge Luis Alberto Simental Ortega barred prosecutors from using Zuany’s earlier statement as evidence, Infobae and Tiempo reported. Zuany is now charged in the same case with making false statements and is wanted on an arrest warrant. The defense argued he gave the statement as a witness and without a lawyer. The judge also refused prosecutors’ request to close the hearing on national-security grounds and called a request to send the case to anticorruption prosecutors premature.

Federal prosecutors (FGR) are separately investigating Jáuregui for possible treason, ADN and Infobae said. Norte Digital counted about 40 supporters outside the courthouse.

Related coverage: 2 U.S. Agents Died After a Chihuahua Drug-Lab Raid: Ex-State Prosecutor César Jáuregui Arrested Over the CIA-Linked Operation — His Former Investigations Chief Is on the Run

Sources

• Tiempo, Oct. 18, 2026: protected witness and Jáuregui’s statement
• Tiempo, Oct. 18, 2026: bodyguard and agent testimony
• Infobae, Oct. 18, 2026
• ADN (A Diario), Oct. 18, 2026
• Norte Digital, Oct. 18, 2026
• Photos: Ilse Gómez, via Norte Digital; Cuartoscuro, via El Financiero

Reported Oct. 18, 2026, from Mexican media accounts of the hearing. Testimony read by prosecutors consists of allegations, not court findings. As of publication, the reports gave no date for a ruling on whether Jáuregui stands trial. We found no statement from Zuany or his lawyers, and no U.S. government comment.