April 29 (UPI) — The Justice Department announced an indictment Wednesday charging 10 current and former Mexican officials, including Sinaloa Gov. Ruben Rocha Moya, with drug-trafficking offenses.
A release from the federal prosecutors said all 10 suspects had “partnered with the Sinaloa Cartel to distribute massive quantities of narcotics to the United States.”
The Justice Department accused the current and former officials of corruption and bribery, allowing members of the drug cartel to operate with impunity.
“The Sinaloa Cartel is a ruthless criminal organization that has flooded this community with dangerous drugs for decades,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York said.
“As the indictment lays bare, the Sinaloa Cartel, and other drug-trafficking organizations like it, would not operate as freely or successfully without corrupt politicians and law enforcement officials on their payroll.”
Rocha, 76, denied the allegations in a statement, saying they “lack any truth or foundation whatsoever. He accused the U.S. government of violating Mexico’s sovereignty.
“To the people of Sinaloa, I say that, with the courage and dignity that characterize us, we will demonstrate the lack of foundation for this slander,” he said in a social media statement.
Mexico’s Secretariat of Foreign Affairs confirmed in a statement on Wednesday evening that it had received extradition requests for “various individuals” from the U.S. Embassy and that they had been transferred to the Attorney General’s Office for evaluation in accordance with the International Extradition Law.
According to the statement, the documents received by the Mexican government “do not contain evidence sufficient to determine the responsibility of the people for whom provisional detention for extradition purposes is being requested.” The Attorney General’s Office will decide whether the extradition requests are legally viable under Mexican law, it said.
The Trump administration has led a hardline policy on drug trafficking, designating 10 gangs and cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel, as terrorist organizations that President Donald Trump has said the United States is in “armed conflict” with.
Along with the designations, the Trump administration has warned financial institutions about potential sanctions exposure for working with the cartel, sanctioned various Sinaloa entities and individuals, brought cases against alleged members and blacklisted organizations linked to the Sinaloa Cartel.
Each of the suspects indicted Wednesday faces the same three charges: narcotics importation conspiracy; possession of machine guns and destructive devices; and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. If convicted, they each face up to life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 40 years in prison.
One of the suspects, Juan Valenzuela Millan, aka Juanito, faces additional charges of kidnapping resulting in death and conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death. If convicted, the former high-level commander in the Culiacan Municipal Police faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
The other defendants include: Enrique Inzunza Cazarez, a Mexican senator and former secretary-general for Sinaloa; Enrique Diaz Vega, the former secretary of administration and finance for Sinaloa; Damaso Castro Zaavedra, deputy attorney general for the Sinaloa state attorney general’s office; Marco Antonio Almanza Aviles, former head of the investigative police for the Sinaloa state attorney general’s office; Alberto Jorge Contreras Nunez, aka “Cholo,” former head of the investigative police for the Sinaloa state attorney general’s office; Gerardo Merida Sanchez, former secretary of public security for Sinaloa; Jose Antonio Dionisio Hipolito, aka “Tornado,” former deputy director of the Sinaloa state police; and Juan de Dios Gamez Mendivil, the mayor of Culiacan.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.