In her morning press conference, the president of Mexico considered the evidence presented by the US justice system insufficient to request the extradition of Rubén Rocha Moya and nine other current or former Mexican officials, accused of links to drug trafficking. The president assured that "we are not going to cover anyone who has committed a crime," but warned that she will not allow "the interference or interference of a foreign government."

First modification: 05/01/2026 - 01:48Last modification: 05/01/2026 - 02:33

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If relations between the United States and Mexico were already at a point of high tension, the gap has only deepened with the recent accusation by the Department of Justice for alleged links to drug trafficking against ten former or current Mexican officials, including the governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, a political ally of Claudia Sheinbaum.

For this reason, the Mexican president took a firm stance this Thursday, April 30, and, during her morning press conference, made it clear that "clear evidence" from the US justice system is needed for Mexico to accept the request for the extradition of the accused, something that, for the president, has not yet happened.

"We are not going to cover anyone who has committed a crime. However, if there is no clear evidence, it is evident that the objective of these accusations by the Department of Justice is political," Sheinbaum said.

For the leftist leader, it is up to the Attorney General's Office (FGR) to carry out its "own investigation" and determine whether there is "conclusive and irrefutable evidence" that justifies the arrest warrants issued by the US authorities.

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Otherwise, "if it becomes evident that the Justice Department's accusations are politically motivated," Sheinbaum warned, "let there be absolutely no doubt: under no circumstances will we allow a foreign government to interfere in decisions that are the exclusive prerogative of the Mexican people."

"Mexico establishes a relationship of equals with all nations. Never one of subordination and even less of surrender," he insisted.

In relation to the proceedings of the American justice system, the Mexican president questioned the dissemination of the accusation document because, she assured, "these processes are confidential" according to foreign relations treaties; and criticized that, according to the information sent by the United States, the evidence in the case is based on "one person's saying."

A complaint that shakes the ruling party

Sheinbaum's message responds to the accusation, presented on Wednesday, by the Prosecutor's Office of the Southern District of New York for alleged crimes of drug trafficking and illegal possession of weapons against ten Mexican officials, whom he links to the Sinaloa Cartel, in particular with the 'Los Chapitos' faction, led by the children of the creator of the criminal group, Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán.

The complaint hits Morena, the progressive party to which Sheinbaum belongs, since its highest-profile defendant is Rocha Moya, a member of that political group and a man close to former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Among those charged are also two other Morena militants: the mayor of Culiacán (capital of Sinaloa), Juan de Dios Gámez Mendívil, and senator Enrique Inzunza Cázarez.

The other accused who is currently acting is the deputy attorney general of Sinaloa, Dámaso Castro Zaavedra, while the other six are former officials or former members of the local Police.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the defendants allegedly protected Sinaloa Cartel leaders from investigation, arrest and prosecution, provided the cartel with confidential information from law enforcement and the military, ordered members of state and local law enforcement agencies to protect drug shipments, and allowed the cartel to commit acts of brutal drug-related violence without consequences.

In exchange, according to the accusation, the suspects would have received millions of dollars from drug trafficking.

"These politicians and law enforcement officials have abused their authority in support of the cartel, exposed victims and subjected them to threats and violence, and sold their positions in exchange for large bribes," the document reads.

"If there is nothing, there is nothing to fear"

For various analysts, the charges also represent an escalation in the way the cartels are persecuted and in the growing pressure of the Trump Administration in Mexico, since it is unprecedented for accusations to be presented against senior officials in office.

Carlos Pérez Ricart, professor at the Mexican Center for Research and Economic Education (CIE-E), assured that the accusation represents "a foreign government causing a political earthquake in Mexico" to support its own political rhetoric about drug trafficking and intervention in Latin America.

"US justice is serving an interventionist foreign policy with specific objectives in Mexico," he asserted.

Read also: What is known about the death of two CIA agents in Mexico and why does it put Sheinbaum in trouble?

Amid the commotion, Sheinbaum confirmed that he spoke by phone with Rocha Moya on Wednesday and told her that "if there is nothing, there is nothing to fear."

"There has to be evidence. Take a citizen who does not hold a popularly elected position. An arrest without evidence. Well, no, right? It's the same for a governor, who in any case, there would first have to be a violation of immunity if it were found that there is any evidence against him," he insisted.

After learning about the case against him, Rocha Moya pointed out that the accusations "lack any veracity or foundation" and expressed confidence that "this will be demonstrated, with complete force, at the appropriate time."

The governor of Sinaloa also maintained that "this attack is not only on me, but on the Fourth Transformation movement" – as his followers call the political project initiated in 2018 by López Obrador and now continued by Sheinbaum – and, more broadly, on "national sovereignty."

In the case of Rocha Moya, US prosecutors claim that he was elected governor of Sinaloa in 2021 with the help of 'Los Chapitos', a faction that allegedly kidnapped and intimidated his political rivals in exchange for impunity to operate and distribute drugs in the United States.

Rocha Moya, born in the same municipality as 'El Chapo' Guzmán (Badiraguato), was involved in a scandal in 2024, when his name appeared in a letter written by drug boss Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, of the Sinaloa Cartel, who was kidnapped by one of 'El Chapo's sons and handed over to US authorities.

In that writing, the capo imprisoned in the United States stated that the abduction occurred when he believed he was on his way to a meeting in which the governor of Sinaloa was supposedly going to participate.

With Reuters, AP and EFE

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