A grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has accused 10 current and former Mexican officials charged with importing large quantities of drugs into the United States and related crimes. The officials contain the current Governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, and a Deputy Attorney General of the State of Sinaloa, a former Minister of Public Security of Sinaloa, a former Deputy Director of the Sinaloa State Police, and a Senator.
The indictment accuses the officers of having ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said“The Sinaloa Cartel is a ruthless criminal organization that has been flooding this community with dangerous drugs for decades… (which) would not operate as freely and successfully without corrupt politicians and law enforcement officers on its payroll.” The indictment states that in May 2022, police officers in Phoenix, Arizona, intercepted a cartel shipment of approximately 189,000 fentanyl pills, two kilograms of fentanyl powder, half a kilogram of cocaine and 15 pounds confiscated methamphetamine.
The indictment accuses the officers of having ties to a faction of the Sinaloa cartel, “Los Chapitos,” run by the sons of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. Guzmán is serving a life sentence in the United States. The specific charges include conspiracy to import narcotics, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess them, kidnapping resulting in death and conspiracy to kidnap. The indictment calls for all assets obtained through the alleged crimes to be confiscated to the United States.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said:
We will not cover for anyone who has committed a crime. However, in the absence of clear evidence, it is obvious that the target of these Justice Department accusations is political in nature. … We will not allow a foreign government … to decide the future of the Mexican people.
The Secretariat for Foreign Relations responded to the accusation in a opinion to
Rocha Moya denied the allegations against him in a Post on Xand added: “It is part of a perverse strategy to violate (Mexico’s) constitutional order, especially national sovereignty.”
