State Department Reviews All 53 Mexican Consulates After Deaths of Two CIA Officers in Mexico

U.S. official told CBS News on Thursday. The review could lead Secretary of State Marco Rubio to consider ordering the closure of some diplomatic offices.

Mexico maintains the largest foreign consular network in the United States. Its consular offices provide documentation and legal aid to millions of Mexican citizens living across the United States, with most concentrated in California, Texas and Arizona. The review comes as bilateral tensions build over security cooperation and cartel violence.

It follows the deaths of two American CIA officers last month after a counter-narcotics operation in northern Mexico. Two American officials died alongside two Mexican investigators after their vehicle crashed in a remote mountain region where authorities were targeting suspected drug laboratories, CBS News reported.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the American officers may not have had authorization from the federal government to operate in the country and publicly demanded explanations from the Trump administration.

U.S. announced drug trafficking and weapons charges against top Mexican political figures and issued multiple extradition requests, including one for Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya.

U.S. Justice Department regarding the allegations against Rocha and other senior officials, Sheinbaum said. Sheinbaum added that Mexico's Attorney General's Office would investigate if credible evidence was provided. Rocha denied the accusations, calling them false.

Rocha said he would temporarily leave office to focus on his defense and cooperate with Mexican authorities. U.S. Embassy in Mexico said combating corruption and transnational organized crime remains a shared priority for both governments.

The embassy added that corruption that enables organized crime will be investigated and prosecuted wherever it exists. CIA Director John Ratcliffe has sought to advance a key Trump administration priority by deepening intelligence-sharing and training with Mexican antidrug units and has included surveillance drone flights over Mexico targeting cartel operations.

U.S. Consulate closures have usually reflected rising tensions with rival countries rather than routine diplomatic changes. In 2020 the Trump administration ordered China's consulate in Houston to close.

U.S. Ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco along with diplomatic facilities in Washington and New York.