MEXICO CITY (AP) 鈥� Two members of Mexican President party in the northwestern Sinaloa state said they would temporarily step down from their posts after the and security officers with drug trafficking.
The bombshell indictment against the 10 has shaken Mexico’s .
In a short video announcement at midnight on Friday, Gov. Rub茅n Rocha Moya, the highest-ranking official named in the indictment, denied accusations that he protected the Sinaloa cartel and helped it smuggle vast quantities of drugs into the U.S. in exchange for political support and millions of dollars in bribes.
鈥淢y conscience is clear,鈥� said Rocha, 76, a longtime ally of influential former . 鈥淭o my people and to my family, I can look you in the eye because I have never betrayed you, and I never will.鈥�
But he said he would take a temporary leave of absence from the position he has held for six years to defend himself against what he called the 鈥渇alse and malicious鈥� allegations and cooperate with the Mexican government’s investigation.
Juan de Dios G谩mez Mend铆vil, the mayor of the Sinaloa state capital of Culiac谩n named in the indictment, also said he would take leave and denied the charges. Another defendant and member of the ruling Morena party, Sen. Enrique Inzunza, said he would continue serving in the Senate while defending himself from the accusations.
In a special vote Saturday, the state’s local congress appointed as interim governor Yeraldine Bonilla Valverde, an ally of Rocha who previously served as the state’s secretary of government. It approved Rocha’s leave of absence for a period of 30 days.
As serving governor and mayor, Rocha and G谩mez Mend铆vil had enjoyed immunity from criminal prosecution. But in leaving their posts even temporarily, the officials lost their blanket protection from prosecution, Arturo Zald铆var, a former Mexican Supreme Court justice who now advises Sheinbaum, posted on X.
鈥淭hey can be detained like any person,鈥� he wrote.
The president wants the trials held in Mexico
Sheinbaum has between the interests of her progressive Morena party and from U.S. to step up the fight against cartels.
In a nod to her to stamp out corruption, Sheinbaum said she wouldn鈥檛 defend anyone found to have committed a crime.
But she vigorously defended Mexico’s sovereignty, saying that if federal authorities uncovered 鈥渋rrefutable鈥� evidence linking the 10 indicted officials to cartel crime, the accused would be tried in Mexico, not the U.S. 鈥� a move that risks backlash from an American administration that has against cartels on Mexican soil.
鈥淲e will never subordinate ourselves because this is a matter of the dignity of the Mexican people,鈥� she said Friday.
Many Mexicans living cartel violence almost daily in Sinaloa said on Saturday that they welcomed news of the U.S. indictment and their governor’s resignation as a step toward accountability.
鈥淲e are in an ungovernable state where the same party and the same governor essentially gave free rein to what has become a violent situation,” said Raquel Campos, a 35-year-old doctor in Culiac谩n. 鈥淯nfortunately it was another country that had to take action.鈥�
No arrests till the investigation is over
Pending investigation, the Mexican attorney general鈥檚 office said it would not arrest Rocha or the other accused officials, as requested by the U.S.
Rocha, a point person for the approach to dealing with organized crime that L贸pez Obrador pioneered and Sheinbaum has since ditched, insisted in the video that the indictment represents a political attack on Morena.
鈥淚 will not allow myself to be used to harm the movement to which I belong 鈥� one that has improved the lives of millions of Mexican men and women,鈥� he said.
Born in the same town as the notorious Mexican drug kingpin 鈥� ,鈥� Rocha has found himself embroiled in similar scandals before. In 2024, he was written by a then-Sinaloa cartel capo who was kidnapped by leaders of a rival faction and handed over to U.S. law enforcement. In the letter, the capo said that he was on his way to meet Rocha when he was abducted.
鈥淚t’s an open secret,鈥� Sergio Estrella, 42, a shopkeeper in Culiac谩n, said of the alleged collusion between drug kingpins and senior officials. 鈥淭he government needs to take a different tack, to recognize how deeply drug trafficking is embedded in politics.鈥�
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DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Associated Press journalist Aar贸n Ibarra in Culiac谩n, Mexico, contributed to this report.
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