Overview
- Rocha returned to the Sinaloa governor’s office on Friday and asked state lawmakers for a new leave of absence the next day after intense criticism from his own party and the president.
- The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an April indictment that charges Rocha and nine others with conspiring with a Sinaloa Cartel faction to traffic drugs into the United States and accept bribes.
- Mexican authorities have so far not detained or extradited Rocha, saying U.S. prosecutors have not provided sufficient evidence to support domestic arrest warrants.
- Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office and the Secretariat of the Interior have issued mixed public signals about the domestic probe, with Rocha saying investigators found no evidence and other officials saying investigations remain open.
- Rocha’s abrupt moves have deepened a political rift inside Morena, drawn public rebukes from President Claudia Sheinbaum, and heightened tension between Mexico and the United States over cross-border law enforcement and evidence-sharing.