Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya requested leave from office again on Saturday, Aug. 22, after his return triggered political backlash over US drug-trafficking, bribery and cartel-protection charges.
Rocha, 77, returned to office on Friday after spending more than three months on leave following the US charges. His return drew a cool response from Mexico’s federal government and the ruling Morena party.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote on X earlier Saturday that “power without principles becomes arrogance” and said personal interests could not take precedence over those of the public or the nation. She did not name Rocha directly.
Rocha later said on X that “Sinaloa, the nation, and the transformation movement are above all else,” as he sought another absence from the governorship.
US prosecutors alleged in April that Rocha and nine other current and former officials conspired with Los Chapitos, a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel.
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Prosecutors accused them of helping facilitate drug trafficking into the United States in exchange for political support and bribes.
Rocha has described the US case as a politically motivated attack on Sheinbaum’s movement. Mexico’s government previously.
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Washington had not supplied sufficient evidence to justify his arrest or extradition, while Mexican authorities opened their own investigation.
The case represents an unusual expansion of US anti-cartel enforcement beyond alleged drug bosses to include a sitting senior Mexican politician.
