“I can look you in the eye because I have never betrayed you, and I never will.” That was Rubén Rocha Moya on Friday, in a short video posted after he asked Sinaloa’s state congress for a temporary leave as governor.
The request came days after the U.S. Justice Department charged him and nine others with working with the Sinaloa cartel to move “massive quantities” of narcotics into the United States. Rocha Moya has called the allegations “false and malicious.” He said his conscience was clear.
Prosecutors tell a different story. Their indictment alleges the defendants took part in a corrupt and violent conspiracy with the cartel to import fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine from Mexico. It names the cartel faction known as Los Chapitos, run by the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who is serving a life sentence in the U.S. As for Rocha Moya himself, the indictment says the cartel helped get him elected, partly by intimidating and kidnapping potential rivals, and that he agreed in return to protect the Chapitos’ smuggling operations.
“As the indictment lays bare, the Sinaloa Cartel, and other drug trafficking organizations like it, would not operate as freely or successfully without corrupt politicians and law enforcement officials on their payroll,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.
The governor faces counts of narcotics importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and a further conspiracy charge. A conviction could bring life in prison or a mandatory minimum of 40 years.
Sinaloa’s congress voted to replace him with Yeraldine Bonilla Valverde, an ally. Juan de Dios Gámez, mayor of the state capital, Culiacán, was also named by the Justice Department and said he too would step down. Neither man now has immunity, so both can be investigated.
Rocha Moya is a member of the ruling Morena party and is close to former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. He has governed Sinaloa since 2021. At least three of the officials in the indictment are also tied to Morena. This is not his first brush with the cartel in print: in 2023 his name appeared in a letter from a then-cartel capo, who wrote that when he was kidnapped he believed he was being taken to meet Rocha Moya. That capo was later handed to U.S. law enforcement.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said it was the first time the U.S. had made narcotrafficking charges public against a sitting governor or other high-ranking official. She said Mexico would extradite officials only if shown “irrefutable evidence” of cartel links, and that authorities would examine whether there is a legal basis for arrest warrants. “We are not going to cover for anyone who has committed a crime,” she said.
She also drew a line. “If it is evident that the Justice Department’s charges are politically motivated, let there be absolutely no doubt: under no circumstances will we allow a foreign government to interfere in decisions that are the exclusive prerogative of the Mexican people.”
The charges land on a relationship with the Trump administration that was already strained, after two U.S. agents, reportedly from the CIA, died in connection with a drug bust. Washington has designated the Sinaloa cartel one of six Mexican groups it treats as foreign terrorist organizations, and it has pressed Sheinbaum to accept U.S. help such as drone strikes or military personnel.
Sources
- Mexican governor accused by U.S. of drug trafficking temporarily steps down – AOL
- Mexican Governor To Step Down After Being Charged In The U.S. Over Alleged Cartel Ties
