Mexican officials charged with importing massive quantities of drugs into US

NEW YORK (AP) — The politician of Sinaloa and 9 different existent and erstwhile Mexican officials were charged with cause trafficking and weapons offenses successful a U.S. indictment unsealed Wednesday successful New York, accused of aiding successful the monolithic importation of illicit narcotics into the United States.

U.S. national officials announced the charges successful a quality release. None of the defendants were successful custody.

Those charged successful Manhattan national tribunal are existent and erstwhile authorities oregon instrumentality enforcement officials successful Sinaloa, including Rubén Rocha Moya, who has been politician of Mexico's Sinaloa authorities since November 2021.

Rocha was a staunch state of erstwhile President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and of his “Hugs, Not Bullets” policy, which progressive avoiding nonstop confrontation with cause cartels.

Rocha, the highest illustration authoritative charged, said helium “categorically and wholly rejects” the accusations and said they were baseless. The authoritative called the charges arsenic an “attack” connected Mexico’s ruling enactment and its leaders.

“It is portion of a perverse strategy to interruption (Mexico’s) law order, specifically connected nationalist sovereignty,” helium wrote successful a station connected X connected Wednesday afternoon. “We volition amusement them that this slander doesn’t person immoderate benignant of foundation.”

Some of those named, according to the indictment, person themselves participated successful the Sinaloa Cartel's run of unit and retribution.

The indictment alleged that they were intimately aligned with the faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, known successful Mexico arsenic the Cartel de Sinaloa, which is tally by the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the ex-cartel person present serving a beingness condemnation successful a U.S. prison.

Authorities said the defendants person played indispensable roles successful helping the Sinaloa Cartel vessel fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine from Mexico into the United States. The Sinaloa Cartel is among 8 Latin American transgression groups designated arsenic violent organizations by the U.S.

In a release, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton called the Sinaloa Cartel “a ruthless transgression enactment that has flooded this assemblage with unsafe drugs for decades.”

He added: “As the indictment lays bare, the Sinaloa Cartel, and different cause trafficking organizations similar it, would not run arsenic freely oregon successfully without corrupt politicians and instrumentality enforcement officials connected their payroll.”

The indictment “exposes a deliberate effort to undermine nationalist institutions and enactment American lives astatine risk,” said Terrance Cole, the caput of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The charged officials “used positions of spot to support cartel operations, enabling a pipeline of deadly drugs into our country.”

Among those indicted, astatine slightest 3 officials –- Rocha, the governor, the politician of Sinaloa’s capital, and a legislator -– were affiliated with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s party, Morena. A fig of different officials held positions unaffiliated with Mexican parties.

The charges travel aft U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ron Johnson past week said that the U.S. medication would motorboat an anti-corruption run targeting Mexican officials helium said were linked to organized crime.

"Corruption not lone hinders progress, it distorts it. It increases costs, weakens competition, and erodes the spot upon which markets depend. It is not a occupation without victims,” Johnson said.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded Monday by saying that her authorities has not seen “any evidence” of the charges of corruption.

“Any probe successful the United States against immoderate idiosyncratic successful Mexico indispensable person grounds reviewed by the (Mexican) Attorney General’s Office,” Sheinbaum said.

U.S. prosecutors antecedently brought cause trafficking charges against a erstwhile Mexican furniture member, Genaro García Luna, who was accused of taking bribes to assistance the Sinaloa Cartel portion helium was supposedly combating it arsenic his country’s nationalist information secretary. García Luna was convicted successful 2023 and was sentenced to much than 38 years successful prison. He denied the allegations and is appealing his conviction.

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Associated Press writers Megan Janetsky, María Verza and Fabiola Sánchez reported from Mexico City portion AP writer Jennifer Peltz contributed from New York.

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