Ex-Chihuahua Prosecutor Who Worked With CIA Flees to US, NYT Says

Guillermo Zuany Portillo, a former Chihuahua state prosecutor who worked alongside CIA officers, has left Mexico for the United States and may be under US government protection, The New York Times reported. Mexican authorities had issued an arrest warrant for him before he crossed the border.

His case adds to a growing dispute over US intelligence work inside Mexico, which has already led to the arrest of his former boss on treason charges and drawn comment from President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Who Zuany is and why he left

Zuany headed Chihuahua’s special prosecutor’s office for Strategic Operations and Anti-Kidnapping. Mexican and US officials who spoke to the Times said he left the country recently to avoid being detained. His exact location in the United States was still unknown as of Thursday, according to El Siglo de Torreón, which summarized the Times report.

Omar García Harfuch, head of the federal Security and Citizen Protection Ministry (SSPC), confirmed that a warrant for Zuany’s arrest exists.

Zuany’s departure came after state authorities detained César Jáuregui, Chihuahua’s former attorney general and Zuany’s superior. Jáuregui is accused of treason. Since then he has sent a letter to the national leadership of the PAN (National Action Party) asking for due process and criticizing the stance of Chihuahua Governor Maru Campos. Ernestina Godoy has confirmed that the FGR (Mexico’s federal attorney general’s office) agreed with Campos to bring criminal charges against Jáuregui over an operation carried out with US agents.

How the CIA cooperation worked

According to the Times investigation, Zuany started working with CIA officers in October 2025, and the arrangement ran for more than six months. In that time he reportedly went with the American agents on missions against cartels, contributed his field experience, and took part in training Chihuahua’s state security forces.

The CIA’s role in Chihuahua became public in April, when two of the agency’s officers died after their vehicle went off a cliff. They were returning from an operation in the Chihuahua mountains to dismantle a drug lab. That crash prompted questions about how far US intelligence personnel are involved in security operations on Mexican soil.

A visa revoked, then returned

The Times also reported that the Trump administration canceled Zuany’s US visa late last year over alleged links to Chihuahua cartels. After he began helping the CIA, the visa was reportedly restored. The paper said he now appears to be under US protection, though where he is staying has not been made public.

The dispute over what the governor knew

Zuany told the Times that Governor Campos knew US agents were operating in the state. Campos has denied this.

Sheinbaum addressed the case at her Wednesday morning press conference. She said it was important to know the former official’s background and the nature of his work with a US agency.

Why it matters for US-Mexico relations

The presence of US intelligence officers in Mexican security operations has now led to a treason case against a former state attorney general and an arrest warrant for one of his top prosecutors. If the Times report is accurate, a Mexican official wanted at home is being sheltered by the US government he helped, which puts security cooperation between the two countries at the center of a criminal case in Mexico.

The case also pits a sitting governor against her former prosecutor. Zuany says Campos knew about the CIA presence in Chihuahua, she denies it, and the federal government has agreed with her to prosecute Jáuregui over the joint operation with US agents.

Source: elsiglodetorreon.com.mx