US official: Strong evidence of organized crime in attack on CIA agents in Mexico

MEXICO CITY - A senior U.S. official says there is strong circumstantial evidence that Mexican federal police who fired on a U.S. embassy vehicle, wounding two CIA agents, were working for organized crime on a targeted assassination attempt.

A Mexican official with knowledge of the case on the Aug. 24 ambush says that prosecutors are investigating whether the Beltran Leyva Cartel was behind the attack.

The Mexican official said on Tuesday that gang involvement is one of several lines of investigation into the shooting of an armoured SUV clearly marked by diplomatic license plates on a rural road near Cuernavaca south of Mexico City.

Federal police have said the shooting was a case of mistaken identity as officers were looking into the kidnapping of a government employee in the same area.