U.S. indicts Mexican governor on drug trafficking charges
MEXICO CITY — The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday charged Rúben Rocha Moya, the governor of the Mexican state of Sinaloa, with drug trafficking through the notorious Sinaloa cartel.
Nine other current and former Mexican officials were also charged, according to the department.
The impeachment of a sitting governor by U.S. authorities has little precedent in U.S.-Mexico relations and marks a major escalation in the Trump administration’s efforts to combat criminal organizations in Mexico.
“The Sinaloa cartel is a ruthless criminal organization that has flooded this community with dangerous drugs for decades,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement. “As the indictment makes clear, the Sinaloa cartel and other drug trafficking organizations like it, “It could not operate so freely and successfully if corrupt politicians and law enforcement officers were not on its payroll.”
On Sunday, the Times reported that U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson hinted last week that the United States would take an aggressive approach against corruption in Mexico.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony held in Sinaloa, Johnson said, “We may see significant action on this front soon. So stay tuned.”
Rocha Moya was elected governor in 2021, but his popularity in the northern state plummeted after he failed to contain a war between two cartel groups in Sinaloa, the sons of former leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
After one of Guzmán’s sons, Joaquín Guzmán, kidnapped Zambada and flew him on a private jet to an airport outside El Paso, Texas, the sons were locked in a battle for the cartel’s throne after authorities arrested them both.
Thousands of people have been killed or disappeared since the war began, and Rocha Moya has failed to contain the violence.
Allegations of his ties to criminal groups have surrounded Rocha Moya since he became governor.
The septuagenarian governor has managed to survive various political scandals thanks to one important fact, according to Mexican observers: his long-standing friendship with former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President Claudia Sheinbaum’s predecessor and mentor.
Rocha Moya is one of a number of high-profile politicians who have been protected because of their relationships with López Obrador.
This is an evolving story. Fisher is a special correspondent.
