Mexico Seeks Ex-Chihuahua Prosecutor Over Alleged CIA Role
Two prosecutors' offices hold arrest warrants for Guillermo Zuany, a former Chihuahua prosecutor accused of helping CIA agents operate in the state.
Guillermo Arturo Zuany Portillo, a former special prosecutor in the northern state of Chihuahua, is wanted on arrest warrants over allegations that he helped CIA agents take part in security operations in Mexico, according to Publimetro and El Financiero. Publimetro describes him as a fugitive.
Omar García Harfuch, Mexico’s security secretary, said at the Tuesday, Nov. 10 morning press conference that both the federal Attorney General’s Office (Fiscalía General de la República, FGR) and the Chihuahua state prosecutor’s office hold warrants against Zuany. President Claudia Sheinbaum addressed the case again on Wednesday, Nov. 11.
Who Zuany is
Zuany built his career in Chihuahua’s security institutions. Publimetro reports that he coordinated anti-kidnapping units, held a command post in the State Investigation Agency (Agencia Estatal de Investigación) and, since September 2025, served as special prosecutor for Strategic Operations and Anti-Kidnapping.
His name became public after The New York Times reported that he allegedly enabled covert CIA work in the state starting in 2025. According to the Times as summarized by Publimetro, the FBI was investigating him for possible ties to criminal organizations at the time, and the United States had withdrawn his visa over those suspicions.
What The New York Times reported
El Financiero, citing the Times investigation, says Zuany became a trusted contact for the CIA. The relationship allegedly began when he introduced a US agent to members of the Chihuahua State Police. For more than six months he served as the link between Mexican officers and the American intelligence agents.
The Times reported, per El Financiero, that a US agent first watched police training, checked equipment and joined tactical exercises. Other CIA personnel later joined operations alongside state forces. The agents carried tactical gear and weapons, and sometimes wore jackets with Chihuahua state insignia. They supplied intelligence and used computers and tablets to look up data in real time.
Two episodes are described. In one, Zuany and several US agents led a mission to detain a cartel boss at a bar, but the target was gone when they arrived. In another, an American agent used his rifle to cover the outside while Mexican officers entered a house.
El Financiero adds that, according to nine officials and agents interviewed by the Times, US authorities gave Zuany his visa back in exchange for his cooperation. Publimetro’s account and El Financiero’s account therefore describe his visa status differently: one says it was withdrawn over suspicions, the other that it was later restored.
Why it matters
The case touches the question of foreign intelligence work on Mexican soil. Publimetro links it to an April 2026 operation in the municipality of Morelos, Chihuahua, in which two Americans allegedly tied to the CIA died. El Financiero says the involvement of US agents in security activities came to light without the government’s authorization.
Sheinbaum called the Times investigation relevant and asked for Zuany’s role to be clarified. Citing the response of the Security Cabinet, she said such collaboration is illegal because it violates the National Security Law (Ley de Seguridad Nacional).
Zuany also told the Times that Chihuahua Gov. Maru Campos knew American agents were present. Both the governor and the state prosecutor’s office reject that claim.
What to watch
Zuany is still being sought under the FGR and Chihuahua warrants. Neither report says where he is or whether charges have been formally filed, and the allegations against him remain unproven.
Sources: Publimetro México, El Financiero
