U.S. Indicts Mexican Governor on Accusations of Aiding Sinaloa Cartel

Trump

Administration

live

Updates

April 29, 2026, 4:53 p.m. ET

Gas Prices

New Comey Indictment

Trump vs. Kimmel

Federal Child Care Regulations

Approval Rating

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.

Supported by

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

U.S. Indicts Mexican Governor on Accusations of Aiding Sinaloa Cartel

Prosecutors accused Rubén Rocha Moya, the governor of Sinaloa state, and other Mexican officials of a yearslong scheme to protect the powerful drug cartel.

Listen

· 6:11 min

Share full article

Rubén Rocha Moya, the governor of Sinaloa state, is the highest-ranking member of Mexico’s dominant political party, Morena, to be indicted by the United States.

Credit...

Rashide Frias/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By

Jack Nicas

Maria Abi-Habib

and

Emiliano Rodríguez Mega

Reporting from Mexico City

April 29, 2026

Updated

4:20 p.m. ET

Leer en español

See more of our coverage in your search results.

Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda.

Add The New York Times on Google

Agrega The New York Times en Google

U.S. prosecutors accused a Mexican governor and nine other current and former Mexican officials of participating in a broad conspiracy to help a powerful Mexican cartel import drugs into the United States in exchange for bribes and votes.

In an indictment unsealed on Wednesday, U.S. prosecutors said that the governor of the Mexican state of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, had accepted bribes and help getting elected in exchange for protecting his state’s dominant criminal organization, the Sinaloa cartel, which has terrorized his constituents for years.

Prosecutors alleged that the other current and former Mexican officials — including a Mexican senator and prominent mayor — had also taken bribes to shield cartel members from arrest and feed them information.

In a statement, Mr. Rocha denied the charges as “entirely false and without foundation,” and said that they were an effort by the United States to violate Mexico’s sovereignty and attack its leftist political movement, which is led by President Claudia Sheinbaum.

The indictment is the Trump administration’s most significant step yet in cracking down on the government corruption that it has said is at the heart of Mexico’s cartel problem.

Mr. Rocha is the highest-ranking member of Mexico’s dominant political party, Morena, to be indicted by the United States. The move could drive a wedge between the U.S. and Mexican governments just as they are deepening cooperation on combating the cartels that have killed thousands of Mexicans and made fortunes by smuggling drugs into the United States.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and

log into

your Times account, or

subscribe

for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?

Log in

.

Want all of The Times?

Subscribe

.

Related Content

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT