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Federal prosecutors in New York City charged several current and former Mexican government officials Wednesday with conspiring with the Sinaloa Cartel to import large amounts of drugs into the U.S. in exchange for bribes and political support.
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Prosecutors in Manhattan indicted the current governor of the Mexican state of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, 76, and nine other high-ranking government and law enforcement figures on multiple drug-trafficking and related weapons counts. Their cooperation with the cartel also allowed cartel members to carry out “brutal drug-related violence” with impunity, prosecutors alleged.
“In exchange, the defendants have collectively received millions of dollars in drug money from the Cartel,” prosecutors said.
The government claimed the defendants worked closely with one faction of the cartel, the “Chapitos,” which is led by the sons of notorious former leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Since Guzmán was extradited to the U.S. in 2017 and sentenced to life in prison following his subsequent drug conspiracy conviction, the Chapitos and the defendants have “perpetuated a narcotics-fueled cycle of corruption,” according to the wide-ranging indictment.
“The Sinaloa Cartel is a ruthless criminal organization that has flooded this community with dangerous drugs for decades,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement announcing the charges. “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.”
Clayton also praised the Mexican government.
The Chapitos helped Rocha Moya, who has been governor since November 2021, get elected by stealing ballots, as well as kidnapping and intimidating opponents, the document said.
Before and after Rocha Moya was elected governor, federal prosecutors said, he attended multiple meetings with the organization in which he pledged to support the drug trafficking operation and to allow it to “operate with impunity in Sinaloa.”
Those meetings, according to the indictment, were guarded by people armed with machine guns.
Rocha Moya did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. He said on X that he “categorically and absolutely” denies the accusations.
“To the people of Sinaloa, I say, with the bravery and the dignity that characterize us, we will demonstrate the lack of substance of this slander,” he wrote.
Rocha Moya framed the indictment as an attack on the “Fourth Transformation” — a term former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador coined to describe his political movement — and its leaders and supporters.
Rocha Moya is a member of the Morena party, which Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, López Obrador’s successor and ally, also belongs to.
Sheinbaum did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The defendants “shielded cartel leaders” from prosecution and directed state and local law enforcement agencies to “protect drug loads stored in and transiting through Mexico to the United States,” according to court documents.
In one instance in May 2022, federal prosecutors said, the cartel tried to traffic about 189,000 fentanyl pills, 2 kilograms of fentanyl powder, half a kilogram of cocaine and 15 pounds of methamphetamine into the U.S.
Law enforcement later seized the massive quantity in Phoenix, they said.
One law enforcement official is alleged to have received $11,000 a month from the Chapitos. In return, the official prevented cartel members from being arrested and informed them of planned U.S.-backed law enforcement operations, prosecutors said.
A high-level police commander is also alleged to have accepted $41,000 in monthly bribes that were distributed among himself and other officers. In exchange, prosecutors alleged, the cartel had “full access to the intelligence, operations, and resources” of the department, including its police patrol cars and radios.
The government said the defendants, all of whom are believed to reside in Mexico, face up to a maximum of life in prison if they are convicted.
Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Office said in a statement that it received an extradition request from the U.S. for various people. It said the attorney general’s office will determine whether there is enough proof to detain them for extradition.
In a video statement Wednesday night, Ulises Lara López, head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office for the Investigation of Relevant Matters, reiterated that the AG’s office will launch an investigation to determine if there’s enough proof to issue arrest warrants.
Clayton said Wednesday’s indictment should signal that officials who cooperate with drug traffickers are not immune to justice.
“Let these charges send a clear message to all officials around the globe who work with narco-traffickers: no matter your title or position, we are committed to bringing you to justice,” he said in his statement.
Chloe Atkins reports for the NBC News National Security and Law Unit, based in New York.
Tom Winter is NBC’s National Law Enforcement and Intelligence Correspondent.
Jonathan Dienst is chief justice contributor for NBC News and chief investigative reporter for WNBC-TV in New York.
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