Star Metro - Mexican governor wanted on US drug charges returns to job

In a long post on X, Ruben Rocha Moya, an ally of leftist President Claudia Sheinbaum, insisted he had "committed no crime" and was returning to office "with a clear conscience and head held high."

The US Justice Department charged him and nine other ruling party politicians in April for colluding with the infamous Sinaloa Cartel to distribute drugs inside the United States and demanded their extraditions.

It was the first time the US had publicly charged a sitting Mexican politician.

Sheinbaum requested the US provide "irrefutable" evidence before acting against Rocha Moya, who is very close to her mentor, former president Andrew Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The 77-year-old governor stepped aside on May 1 to cooperate with the Mexican investigation into the allegations.

His surprise return to one of the most prominent offices in the land on Friday set the stage for a potential standoff between Mexico City and Washington over his fate.

It came on a day when Sheinbaum was away from her office, suffering from the flu.

The brutal Sinaloa Cartel, which was co-founded by jailed drug baron Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, is one of six Mexican drug gangs that US President Donald Trump has designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

- Same hometown as El Chapo -

Rocha was questioned by Mexican prosecutors at the end of May.

"After 112 days of investigation, as the Attorney General's Office itself has already reported... there is not a shred of evidence to substantiate our involvement in any criminal conduct -- in other words, I have committed no crime," he wrote on X.

He was born in Badiraguato, the Sinaloa town that El Chapo, who is behind bars in the United States, also called home.

A teacher by profession, Rocha has dabbled both in academia and politics throughout his career.

US prosecutors accuses him of receiving help from El Chapo's sons to become governor in 2021.

El Chapo's former associate, Ivan "El Mayo" Zambada, named Rocha when denouncing the kidnapping that led to his capture in the United States in July 2024.

He said he was lured with an invitation to a purported meeting called by Rocha.

Rocha has always denied this.

On Thursday, he accused the "national and foreign ultra right" of a hit job on the political left.

"I am completely uninvolved and innocent of the lies that have been concocted against me," he insisted.

- 'Very complex' relationship -

The Rocha case has been the "most difficult" of Sheinbaum's administration, David Mora, an analyst with the Crisis Group consulting firm, told AFP.

"He is very close to Lopez Obrador, has been friends with him for decades, and campaigned with him."

That, he said, puts Sheinbaum in a "very complex" position, should President Donald Trump's administration step up pressure on her to extradite him.

Sheinbaum is navigating a mine field with her mercurial US counterpart.

Trump is demanding she show more results in the fight against drug trafficking.

Both countries are, at Trump's instigation, also reviewing a North American free trade agreement with Canada that is crucial to Mexico's economy.

"They are forcing Sheinbaum to choose between her party and Trump," Mora stated. "The costs are extremely high for both options."

Sheinbaum has sought to avoid confrontation with Trump while also positing herself as a defender of Mexican sovereignty.

Last month, she announced an investigation into whether the US violated international law and the Mexican constitution by whisking Zambada out of the country to face justice.

A.Bergeron--SMC