U.S. Indicts Sinaloa Governor and Nine Mexican Officials on Alleged Drug and Weapons Ties

U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment on Wednesday against Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya and nine other current and former Mexican officials on drug trafficking and weapons offenses. The indictment was unsealed in New York.

The indictment accuses the defendants of working with the Sinaloa Cartel to distribute massive quantities of narcotics to the United States. The defendants allegedly received millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel. Governor Ruben Rocha Moya is 76 years old.

Ruben Rocha Moya was born in the same town as El Chapo. The indictment includes five counts: narcotics importation conspiracy, possession of machineguns and destructive devices, conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices, kidnapping resulting in death, and conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death.

Ruben Rocha Moya was charged with narcotics importation conspiracy, possession of machineguns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices. The defendants were tied to the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, led by the sons of Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán.

U.S. prison. The Sinaloa Cartel is one of six Mexican narcotrafficking groups designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the Trump administration.

U.S. government. The charged officials include a Mexican senator, a Sinaloa state deputy attorney general, a former Sinaloa secretary of public security, a former deputy director of the Sinaloa State Police, and the mayor of Culiacan.

At least three of the indicted officials—Ruben Rocha Moya, the mayor of Sinaloa’s capital, and a senator—are affiliated with the Morena party. In 2024, Ruben Rocha Moya was embroiled in a scandal involving the Sinaloa Cartel, where his name appeared in a letter from a kidnapped cartel capo who believed he was meeting Rocha. S.

Court and sentenced to 38 years in prison for taking bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel. Ruben Rocha Moya stated on X on April 29, 2026: 'I categorically and absolutely reject the accusations made against me by the Southern District of New York Federal Prosecutor’s Office, as they lack any truth or foundation whatsoever.

Ruben Rocha Moya stated that the accusations are an attack on Mexico’s ruling party and its leaders, and part of a perverse strategy to violate Mexico’s constitutional order on national sovereignty.

Ruben Rocha Moya told reporters on April 29, 2026, that he planned to stay in Sinaloa and was not worried. S. The Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs released a statement on April 29, 2026, arguing there is not sufficient evidence to support the United States’ extradition requests and that the attorney general’s office will review the requests.

U.S. on April 29, 2026. On April 27, 2026, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated at a press conference that any corruption allegations must be clearly substantiated and managed by local officials.

U.S. investigation against Mexican persons must have evidence reviewed by the Mexican Attorney General’s Office. S.

U.S. administration would launch an anti-corruption campaign targeting Mexican officials linked to organized crime. Ruben Rocha Moya is a staunch ally of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Ruben Rocha Moya backed López Obrador’s 'Hugs, Not Bullets' policy.