This Wednesday, Donald Trump’s Government took its crusade against organized crime in Mexico, and its corollary, narcopolitics, to levels never seen before, alleging collusion with the cartel founded by capo Joaquín, as well as a senator from Morena, the ruling party, and eight other officials. El Chapo Guzmán and his partner Ismael May Zambada.
The accusation, made public by the US Department of Justice and the Anti-Drug Agency (DEA), places enormous pressure on the Administration of Claudia Sheinbaum, which will have to explain how the —member of Morena— went unnoticed by its Government, if they are finally proven. For now, the Mexican Foreign Ministry has admitted that Washington has requested the capture and extradition of the accused, but has warned that they have not been presented with sufficient evidence to do so.
The decision by the federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, to launch an investigation against a group of officials for conspiring with leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel to allegedly import huge quantities of heroin, cocaine or fentanyl into the United States in exchange for political support and bribes, represents Washington’s biggest blow against Mexican politicians since the case against the general. Former Secretary of Defense, he was captured for alleged ties to drug trafficking. On that occasion, Cienfuegos ended up freed thanks to pressure from the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is also known to have strong ties with Rocha.
The United States investigation documents the intimate collaboration of the governor and his circle with Los Chapitos, the faction led by Guzmán’s children, to operate freely in Sinaloa and introduce tons of drugs into the United States. In exchange, the indictment says, the cartel paid regular bribes to commanders of the Prosecutor’s Office and the State Police. In the case of the president, although no bribes are attributed to him, the file indicates that he came to office helped by Los Chapitos and that from the governorship he has returned the favor by giving protection to their criminal operations.
The blow dealt by Washington comes in , following the discovery that CIA agents were deployed on security work on Mexican soil, something prohibited by law. Mexico launched a diplomatic gesture demanding an explanation.
In this context, the US ambassador, Ronald Johnsson, in another unusual gesture, traveled to Sinaloa last week and, within the framework of an announcement of US investments, launched. His presence in that Pacific Mexican state ended up being, after all, the announcement of what was to come.
In his second term, Trump has waged an aggressive campaign against corrupt foreign officials who facilitate organized crime operations. Something that, however, has not prevented him from pardoning the former president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández, sentenced to 45 years for complicity in the smuggling of hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States.
For months now, thanks to leaks in the American press, political gossip in Mexico has been talking about Washington having a “list” containing the names of alleged narcopoliticians. Certain moves by Washington seemed to support that narrative. Among them, the cancellation of the visas of several border officials, including governors. These days, Los Angeles Times revealed that Rocha’s visa had also been revoked, and that the measure was part of a great .
Suspicions about Rocha go back a long way, so Washington’s accusation is more of a confirmation. In 2024, Ishmael May Zambada, former partner of El Chapo Guzmán was captured and handed over to the United States under murky circumstances. Then, Zambada accused that he was led into a trap by Los Chapitos, who summoned him to a meeting where, they promised him, Governor Rocha would be there (who never showed up). Instead, he was kidnapped and taken to the United States against his will, according to his story.
This alleged betrayal led to what has left hundreds dead and missing in Sinaloa. Rocha said at the time that it was false that he was going to be at that meeting, and that he was not even in Mexico at that time. Now, following the United States accusation, he has said that he is part of a political campaign against Morena.
“The Sinaloa Cartel is a ruthless criminal organization that has flooded this country with dangerous drugs for decades,” said federal prosecutor Clayton on Wednesday. “As the indictment reveals, the Sinaloa Cartel and other similar drug trafficking organizations would not operate as freely or successfully without corrupt paid politicians and law enforcement officials.” The prosecutor also issued a warning “to all officials in the world who collaborate with drug traffickers.” “Regardless of their position or position, we are committed to bringing them to justice,” he said.
“Corruption that facilitates organized crime and harms both countries will be investigated and prosecuted wherever the jurisdiction of the United States is applicable,” declared the United States Embassy in Mexico in a statement issued after the announcement of the indictment.
In addition to Rocha, the US Government is looking for the former Secretary of Administration and Finance of Sinaloa, Enrique Díaz Vega; the deputy prosecutor of the State Prosecutor’s Office, Dámaso Castro Saavedra; the former heads of the investigative police Marco Antonio Almanza Avilés and Alberto Jorge Contreras Núñez; the former Secretary of Public Security of Sinaloa, Gerardo Mérida Sánchez; the former deputy director of the State Police, José Antonio Dionisio Hipólito; the mayor of Culiacán, Juan de Dios Gámez Mendívil; and the former high-ranking commander of the Culiacán municipal police, Juan Valenzuela Milan.
The latter received, according to the New York Prosecutor’s Office, more than $1,600 a month from Los Chapitos in exchange for using the Culiacán Municipal Police to carry out arrests, kidnappings and murders. In October 2023, always according to the indictment, he allegedly helped the clan to kidnap a confidential DEA source and his relative, who was subsequently tortured and murdered.
He is among the Latin American criminal groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United States. On February 20, 2025, just a month after Trump’s return to the White House, the State Department announced the inclusion in that list of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua, the Salvadoran Mara Salvatrucha, and the Mexican Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel, the Northeast cartel, the New Michoacan family, the Gulf cartel and the United Cartels.
