Sinaloa governor resigns amid US drug trafficking charges
Al Jazeera Staff
Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya temporarily resigned after a US indictment accused him of aiding the Sinaloa cartel. He denies the charges, while Mexico's president says the accusations lack evidence and may be politically motivated.
The governor of Mexico's Sinaloa state, Ruben Rocha Moya, announced his temporary resignation just days after a major US drug trafficking indictment was unsealed against him, deepening tensions between the two countries.
In a short video posted Friday night, Rocha Moya again denied any wrongdoing but said he would "step away temporarily" to defend himself against the US charges.
The indictment, released by US prosecutors earlier this week, accuses Rocha Moya and nine other officials of directly aiding the Sinaloa drug cartel in smuggling operations in exchange for political support and bribes.
According to the indictment, this support included cartel members kidnapping and threatening opposition candidates during the 2021 elections as well as stealing ballots for candidates running against Rocha Moya.
Rocha Moya is a member of President Claudia Sheinbaum's leftist Morena party. He said: "My conscience is clear. Before the people and my family, I can look you in the eye because I have never betrayed you and I never will."
Juan de Dios Gamez Mendivil, the mayor of Sinaloa's state capital Culiacan and also among those charged by the US, announced he would resign on Saturday. He too denied the allegations.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reacted sharply to the charges as she navigates a tense relationship with the Trump administration. She said her government had received no concrete evidence to back the allegations, calling the information in the indictment insufficient.
Speaking Thursday, Sheinbaum said: "My position on these events is as follows: truth, justice and the defense of sovereignty." She stressed that if there were "clear and irrefutable evidence," the US would still have to proceed "in accordance with the law within our jurisdiction." She said her government would not "cover for anyone who commits a crime," but without clear evidence, "the purpose of these charges from the US Department of Justice is political."
Since taking office last January, the Trump administration has pressured Mexico to do more to address migration and drug smuggling. Washington has used tariffs as leverage and designated several Latin American drug cartels as "Foreign Terrorist Organizations."
Experts say charging elected officials in Mexico marks a major escalation in the Trump administration's strategy. Vanda Felbab-Brown, an expert on non-state armed groups at the Brookings Institution, said this had long been seen as "a very big step, almost a nuclear option." She predicted more US indictments could follow.
