Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is openly challenging the U.S. Justice Department and is apparently using her political power to prevent the arrest and extradition of a sitting state governor, a senator, and a mayor, all from her political party, MORENA. Those three men and seven other top law enforcement officials from the state of Sinaloa are wanted in a U.S. federal court on drug trafficking charges.
In response to the scandal, Sheinbaum claimed that the U.S. Department of Justice is playing a political game trying to target her party and her government will not take part in it.
“It must be made absolutely clear,” she said. “Under no circumstances will we permit the intrusion or interference of a foreign government in decisions that pertain exclusively to the people of Mexico.”
As Breitbart Texas first reported, the issue began on Wednesday afternoon when the USDOJ announced an indictment against Sinaloa’s current governor, Ruben Rocha Moya, and several of his closest associates, including a senator, the Culiacan mayor, and several top state law enforcement officials. According to U.S. federal prosecutors, all of them are accused of working with the Sinaloa Cartel, primarily the Chapitos faction. The allegations claim that the government officials protected the cartel in exchange for political power and support.
Soon after news of the indictment broke, Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office issued a statement claiming that their U.S. counterparts had requested the arrest and extradition of the individuals, but they had not provided them with proof of any wrongdoing, Breitbart Texas reported.
According to Sheinbaum, Mexico’s FGR needs to conduct its own investigation to determine whether the case has merit and whether there is proof that the wanted individuals committed any wrongdoing. The resistance from Mexico comes at a time when more and more members of Mexico’s ruling party, MORENA, are being implicated for having connections or dealings with drug cartels and the smuggling of fuel.
During her comments, Sheinbaum mentioned the case of Salvador Cienfuegos, a former Secretary of the Army who had been indicted and arrested in the U.S. on drug charges. Due to political pleading from Mexico’s government, the U.S. Justice Department sent Cienfuegos to Mexico to allow them to prosecute him first. However, as soon as Cienfuegos arrived in Mexico, then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador freed him and soon afterward awarded him a medal. According to Shienbuam, the U.S. government did not have any real evidence against Cienfuegos, and the case was purely political.
As Breitbart Texas reported, the U.S. government has been pressuring Mexico to eradicate drug cartels. While Mexico has taken down some top-level drug traffickers, not enough has been done to remove the political influence and power that drug cartels have throughout the country. The political influence is directly tied to several drug cartels having funded and helped get key members of the MORENA party — not only Rocha Moya– get elected into power. Breitbart Texas has reported on how the Gulf Cartel helped get the current Tamaulipas governor into office and how Cartel Jalisco New Generation worked hand in hand with the former governor of Tabasco.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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