US Charges Mexico’s Sinaloa Governor with drug trafficking | DW News

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:00]Explosive accusations from the US against the governor of Mexico's Sinaloa state. The US Justice Department is charging Governor Ruben Roachcha Moya with drug trafficking and weapons offenses. Prosecutors alleged that the governor along with senior officials worked handinhand with the Sinaloa drug cartel, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the world to funnel huge amounts of narcotics into the United States. The governor denies the allegations. Rub Ben Rochaoya is calling the charges against him an attack on Mexico's ruling party and its leaders. In a post on X, he called the move part of a perverse strategy to violate the constitutional order of Mexico.

[00:00:44]Journalist Javier Garcamos joins me for more on this from Toion in northern Mexico. Good to have you with us, Javier.

[00:00:52]>> Hi, David. Thank you. So what exactly are the US justice department's allegations against Governor Rocha?

[00:01:01]Uh so basically the the US Department of Justice is saying that uh Rochaoya and nine uh of his former officials in the government of Sinaloa and also police commanders uh under his um under his uh uh command or his subordinate to him um were allied with the Sinaloa cartel to protect drug trafficking activities by the Sinaloa cartel. specifically the the faction uh that is headed by the sons of Hain Chapo Usman um that they protected the Sinalo state government protected um the the drug trafficking activities um as a the result of a pact that was made with Rocha uh in exchange for support from the cartel to win the 2021 gubernatorial election. It it's a a fairly common scheme uh that is happens sometimes in in Mexico. You know, an organized crime group supports a politician, the politician wins office, and in exchange, the politician protects that group's criminal operations with impunity. That's uh basically what the accusations are about. The Trump administration has made a crackdown on illegal drug trafficking part of its big uh platform. Uh but this is really a new level. Accusations against a sitting governor and Rochaoya is also a member of President Claudia Shane Bomb's own party. Any response from the president so far?

[00:02:37]>> Not yet from the president directly. I suspect that she's going to have to touch on this uh on his uh press conference on Thursday morning, his uh daily press conference. So far, the only reaction from the Mexican government has been that the foreign uh ministry uh has received the extradition request and is reviewing it. Uh that uh communicate that statement also added uh something that was a bit telling. Uh it says no evidence was presented which is a little bit weird because it is not necessary to present evidence in an extradition request. Uh it sort of follows uh the line that President Shambomb and others in Morena have parroted every time there are accusations that someone from Morena is colluded with organized crime. Uh especially when when the accusations are coming from the United States. the president has said, well, they need to present the evidence. You know, they need to prove it. In this case, it was a bit telling because in an extradition request, there is not a requirement to present the evidence right away. The United States, Mexico extradition treaty provides the for the possibility that the detaining party can arrest a person provisionally for up to 60 days while the requesting country gathers and presents all of the evidence. you know, so it would not be unusual. It's just that of course this is a huge political blow to the president and to Morena. It was not entirely unexpected. Uh there have been reports that the United States government has been requesting privately to President Sham um the arrest of several people connected to Morena that were suspect of ties with uh with organized crime. And Rochaoya was always at the top of that list because we have to remember something uh David that happened in August of 2024 when Ismael El Mayo Sambbada, one of the leaders of the Sinaloa cartel uh was kidnapped in Sinaloa by one of the sons of El Chapo Guusman, his former business partner um and then delivered to US authorities in Texas. After that, El Mayo Sambbada wrote a letter saying that he had been kidnapped uh and that the the pretext that was used by the son of El Chapoman to lure Sambbada into that into uh meeting was saying that uh there was going to be a meeting when Sambbada was asked to mediate in a political dispute between Governor Rocha and another political figure that was assassinated that same day. But Elmo Mayo said that he had been summoned to a meeting with the governor uh basically saying you know there is a political relationship with Rochaoya that goes way back.

[00:05:36]>> So there's there's this ongoing rumors allegations against Rocha. Shaneb has as I understand it defended the governor in the past when it was rumors about him in Mexico. Now these are accusations coming from the US. This has to be a a tricky situation for President Shanebomb to be in.

[00:05:57]>> Yeah. Because uh those defenses that you mentioned that Shane Bomb has made and and also former President Lopez Orador um they were from the allegations by Elmo Sambada, you know, but basically that was a a a drug trafficker saying that he was going to meet with a politician. These are completely different. This is the United States government um saying that and that is why it is a huge political blow because President Sham has been uh very pressured to cooperate with the United States. You know, pressured by the Trump administration to cooperate with the United States and she has found several ways to uh take that pressure off to appease uh the US government. For example, we saw uh last year uh when Sham basically surrendered to the United States, dozens of criminals that were in Mexican jails and that were uh subject to extradition requests by the United States. Uh the Mexican government basically put them on planes and surrender them to United States without any kind of trial or process. you know some >> but Javier does she what are what choices does she have now with this with the accusations against and an indictment against a governor can she choose to to not send him that is the question you know because it has to be the Mexican government that has to arrest Rochaoya for an extradition proceeding the great big question is whether the Mexican government is going to do that if Shaman refuses then the United States would have more elements uh or more let's say fodder to say that the Mexican government is colluded with the drug cartels. You know that the Mexican government is protecting a figure that is being accused of association with the drug cartels. So it is a very difficult place for the president to be in because if she refuses to detain Rochaoya then she risks uh the uh you know an onslaught from from the United States you know and more and more accusations and pretty much strained the diplomatic relations that are pretty tense as they are right now >> and Mexico's foreign ministry has actually complained about the handling of this case um saying that it it should have not been announced publicly It should have been kept confidential. How damaging is this case for relations between Mexico and the United States? At this point, I >> I think that it will be damaging in so far as how the Mexican government reacts. I think the the reaction from the Mexican Foreign Ministry saying that this case should have been handled confidential is uh is baseless. uh because ba you know the the the department of justice is following the procedure that has been followed in every other prosecution. There is a grand jury. It the the whole process had been confidential during the time that the prosecutors were presenting the evidence to the grand jury. It's made public as it is supposed to make public when the the conclusions of the grand jury are presented to the judge which is basically what happened uh today. that's when it has to be announced. Uh the the um you know there is a little bit of hypocrisy there because for example when Henro Garcia Luna who was the minister of public safety in the government of Felipe Calderon from 2006 to 2012 where he was arrested uh in um in the United States and brought to trial and eventually found guilty. uh Morena uh former president Lopez Orador and and Morena figures were basically delighted that that was going on, you know, and they were delighted that the US was prosecuting Garcia Luna because they said that there was evidence of the collusion of other past governments with uh with uh drug traffickers. The procedure that was followed with Rochaoya is exactly the same procedure that was followed with Garcia Luna. So it's you know they really can't explain why it should be done uh publicly in one instance but privately or confidentially in another instance. So you know I think that is really a baseless um uh response uh that is only designed to try to cover you know provide some political cover but you know this is really not going to help uh because eventually the the Mexican government is going to have to respond to this. And Javier, I have to repeat that Roachcha Moya has denied the charges. He says they're politically motivated. Do most Mexicans see it that way or do do you think that they see these claims as credible?

[00:10:48]>> I think it depends on the political affiliation. Uh if you were if you were to ask Morena sympathizers, they would probably say that this is a vengeance from the United States. You know, that they don't like Morena or that they don't like Shane Bomb and that they are taking revenge. If you ask someone who sympathizes with the opposition, they're probably gonna ask, you know, what took them so long. Um, but I think in general, if we were to take out political affiliations, in general, it is not surprising that a governor has been in bed with a drug cartels because it is not the first time that it's happened.

[00:11:23]>> Javier Garc Ramos, thanks so much for your reporting.

[00:11:27]>> Thank you, David.

[00:11:29]And for more on Mexico's crime networks, Victoria Ditmar joins me now from the capital, Mexico City. She's an investigator for Insight Crime, a think tank with a focus on organized crime in the Americas. Victoria, the US says the Sinaloa cartel is the most powerful cartel in Mexico. Is there realistically any way to govern the state of Sinaloa without interacting with the cartel?

[00:11:56]That's a great question and I think it depends on what you mean by interacting because in many places of Mexico certainly in a place like Sinaloa where the Sinalo cartel has operated for decades and really build this deep uh economic and social influence. It's really very difficult to govern without uh you know not having any any contact with the group even if it's indirect at all. Right? you always have to uh you know conduct your governance operations with at the shadow of of the criminal of the criminal organization. So if we understand the criminal group the lock cartel in this case not just as a trafficking group but also as you know an entity that that governs and that that provides criminal governance I think it's not realistic to think that anyone would be able to govern without having to interact any way at all.

[00:12:44]Right? But I mean the reality is also that you can all you cannot also govern without having to actively collaborate with the criminal organization right and offering protection directly. So that's why these accusations are so uh scandalous, right? Um and it's really, you know, it's really a question of being able to >> how powerful is the Sinaloa cartel today compared to previous years. Is it getting stronger or weaker?

[00:13:14]>> So the way we understand the Sinaloa cartel today is it's still a transnational criminal organization that is involved in many transnational criminal economies, drug trafficking being the most important one. But it has gone through a period of fragmentation and in which the two main factions, the Chapitos and the Majisa are actively fighting each other for more than a year now and have uh weakened each other, you know, both financially and and in terms of human resources. So you know it is still a criminal group that we can say is you know is making sufficient money but at the territorial level we have seen it getting uh sign significantly weakened as opposed to how it was maybe 5 to 10 years ago >> and is that at all a result of cooperation between Mexico and the US or is it a result of something else?

[00:14:04]It's mostly a result of its own internal conflict which was sparked by Isma sambar alo being handed over to US authorities. So to some extent you know you do have this argument of there is law enforcement activity that is contributing to this uh weakening and obviously of course since the conflict started we have seen uh arrests going up drug seizures going up lab bus going up uh etc. So there it's a combination of both. Um and of course we already have uh various members of the Sinal cartel collaborating or cooperating with US authorities because they have uh judicial cases going on over there. So members like Obido for example who's a member of the Chapitos is actively cooperating with US authorities as well.

[00:14:46]So that has that is related as well to some of the operations we may see uh today on the ground in Siloa. From your research, how deep do ties between the cartels and politicians go uh at the local and at the state level in Mexico and how widespread are these these ties?

[00:15:06]So ties between organized crime in the state and Mexico it varies. These relationship can can vary depending on on on geography. Most the most vulnerable part of the chain are are municipal governments. So, local police, uh, you know, public workers at the local mayor's local mayor's office.

[00:15:24]And that has to do simply because they're the less wellarmed, right? Uh, it's easier for a criminal group to course municipal workers or the municipal police than to court someone from the army, right? Um, that said, there there have been plenty of cases, documented cases of state attorneys, for example, in Mexico, state governors like the case of of Rochamoya, who have been tied to organized crime. uh and even people like that that reach the federal government, right? There's a very very famous case in Mexico of Hinro Garcia Luna who used to be the federal secretary of public security who is now imprisoned in the US for ties uh related to organized crime. So again this varies uh but there are documented ties of organized crime up to the highest levels of government.

[00:16:10]>> Right. I just have to mention again Rocha Moya has denied the charges. Uh the US and Mexico though have committed to fighting organized crime together as partners for a while now. Uh but that's increased a lot under President Trump.

[00:16:25]Um how most recently they they said they would do more to tackle the cartels specifically. I'm interested in how much of an impact that's really had in Mexico.

[00:16:38]>> Most of the impact I think we have seen some uh very spectacular arrests. For example, not two months ago, we saw the arrest and then killing of Elmen Sea, the leader of of the former leader of the Kalisco cartel new generation, we have seen the transfer of of over 100 prisoners now from the Mexican prison system to the US as well as record seizures etc. So there have there has been an increase in these in these law enforcement actions. Uh how much this has ch this has changed violence and everyday activities of organized crime is harder to say. There is a notion in Mexico that violence is going down in terms of homicides mostly. Um but other other crimes are are still stable or going up like disappearances, extortion, etc. And as as for criminal economies like drug trafficking for example, we aren't yet seeing any indication that these have been severely weakened.

[00:17:30]Right? Still we see drugs continue to flow to the US. Criminal organizations continue to operate in the various different uh business ventures that they have. Um so yes we do see an an an increase in in actions from from government forces but the reality on the ground is more complex and we haven't yet seen any sign significant changes in terms of of the operations of criminal organizations because they know how to adapt um to these actions.

[00:17:55]>> Can you tell us a little bit more about how they adapt?

[00:18:00]Yeah, for example, uh there there is a a an increased focus right now from the US in the Caribbean, right? In terms of uh cocaine trafficking, right? In this case, we have seen that that drought is weakened at the at the moment, but cocaine trafficking is now going through other droughts through Central America, for example, through the Pacific using other methods of transportation. We see that on the US Mexico border as well, right? When when law enforcement action is is focused on a specific area, traffickers simply use other areas, right, to to move their operations elsewhere or they use different trafficking methods. In the case, for example, of fentinel production with the increased both law enforcement action and and the internal war that the Sinaloa cartel uh is maintaining in the state of Sinaloa. We are inside crime, we documented fentinel production moving to other states, right? So criminal organizations are able to either move operations or just adapt how they and this is specific to drug trafficking of course how they move their product uh to avoid law enforcement. Um and you know if one if one specific area geographic area sees more pressure what we tend to see is simply you know criminal organizations moving it to another where the pressure isn't as high. Victoria, I'm wondering historically in Mexico when highranking political figures are accused, arrested, put away sometimes for links to organized crime, do you have any sense of of what that actually does to crime and violence? Does it go down?

[00:19:32]>> Not necessarily. We have specific cases of of high-ranking figures who have been uh processed either in Mexico or who or who are um now in jail in the United States that hasn't necessarily have any have have had any effect in Mexico. If if anything, it does force organizations to reshuffle uh their alliances with with government figures, right? Um so far also we haven't seen a case of a politician who is charged in Mexico sorry charged in the United States and then extradited from Mexico to the United States right so there have been few cases I mean there have been some very significant cases of of of politicians who reach uh let's say the justice system but still you know they're the minority and they're the exception rather than the rule so it hasn't been a systematic uh strategy neither in Mexico nor in the US of targeting these polit politicians. So, the few cases that have occurred haven't really had any effect uh on day-to-day activities and organized crime and violence in Mexico, right? But, you know, again, if anything, it forces criminal groups to shift their alliances, maybe look to collaborate with someone else, uh you know, rethink the the agreements that they had. So, it could even create more instability. We see this for example when elections happen. So, not necessarily even when politicians are charged or arrested, when they leave office and someone else comes in. recently and in all recent electoral process processes in Mexico we have seen an increased violence right related to this uh willingness uh of criminal groups to to have access uh to whoever is in power. So if anything I think it has created more instability.

[00:21:14]>> You you mentioned several other cases but that this case is a little bit different. How special is the Rocha case in your view?

[00:21:25]It is different in the sense that first of all Rochamoya is still in office.

[00:21:29]He's still an active governor. Previous cases have been uh targeted people who have you know already left their post and also he's the first uh governor or first political figure that the US targets that is close to this uh to the current government in Mexico. Right.

[00:21:48]Again, most of most of these cases tend to be, you know, from previous governments where people have already left office and there's also a willingness of the current government to collaborate and hand them over, hand over evidence, etc. So, this one puts the current government in a sticky situation because on one hand, President Shane Bal is has the pressure of the US to continue complying with the demands that they have that they have asked for.

[00:22:14]So you know arrests of certain criminal figures, transfer of prisoners etc. And the narrative at least from the US side seems to be there always needs to be more right like nothing is enough. Uh this narrative that criminal groups continue to run Mexico continues to be very popular among certain US politicians. So there there is this pressure to continue complying, right?

[00:22:36]But there's also this pressure to you know internal pressure of her own party and and her own allies within that party of you know what is going to happen if he actually is uh extradited or if he's processed and you know is he going to probably mention someone else is he going to take down someone else so it's it's a it's a complex situation and and I think it it will be interesting to see how how she reacts right and how this also uh you know what what this means for for the relationship between both countries especially now as we are looking at the renewal of of the trade agreement between both countries and these kind of issues become critical um for reaching for reaching an agreement.

[00:23:18]>> Victoria Ditmar for Insight Crime in Mexico City. Thanks for your insights.

[00:23:24]>> Thank you very much.

[00:23:26]>> So what do you think about this latest twist in US Mexico relations? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. If you like this video, also please hit that like button and if you haven't already, don't forget to subscribe.

[00:23:37]Thanks for watching.