Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya (R) speaks next to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador during AMLO's daily morning press conference, in Mazatlan, Sinaloa State, Mexico, on April 8, 2024. RASHIDE FRIAS / AFP
The US Justice Department on Wednesday, April 29, charged the governor of the Mexican state of Sinaloa and other officials with drug trafficking. The US attorney for the Southern District of New York said 10 people, including Governor Ruben Rocha Moya, are accused of working with the Sinaloa cartel to distribute "massive quantities" of narcotics to the United States.
Without mentioning this indictment, Mexico's Foreign Ministry said it received US extradition requests for "various people." It complained that cases like this are normally handled confidentially under bilateral treaties, rather than being announced publicly first, and said it would send a note of protest to the US embassy "over the way it was announced."
Read more Mexico's endless battle against drug trafficking
The ministry said the Mexican attorney general's office will determine whether there is enough evidence to extradite Rocha Moya and the other suspects to the US. The governor himself denied the drug charges "categorically and absolutely" in a statement on X.
