Two of the 10 current and former Sinaloa-based officials charged in a U.S. drug trafficking indictment that was unsealed last month are now in U.S. custody.
Gerardo Mérida Sánchez, a former Sinaloa security minister, and Enrique Díaz Vega, a former Sinaloa administration and finance minister, turned themselves in to U.S. authorities last week, according to the Mexican government and media reports.
Both men served in the government of Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, who U.S. prosecutors also accuse of drug trafficking in league with the Sinaloa Cartel. Rocha has taken leave as governor, but has not been arrested.
Federal authorities say there is insufficient proof to arrest Rocha and the other defendants for the purpose of extradition to the United States. The mayor of Culiacán and a federal senator who represents the ruling Morena party are among the 10 people accused of colluding with the Sinaloa Cartel — especially the “Chapitos” faction of the criminal organization — in exchange for political support and bribes.
Rocha also represents Morena, the party founded by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The governor, an ally of Sheinbaum, has denied the accusations against him and declared that his innocence will be proven beyond doubt in due course.
Sheinbaum has said on repeated occasions that her government won’t provide cover for anyone who has committed a crime. However, she asserted on April 30 — the day after the indictment was unsealed — that if there is no “clear proof” against Rocha and the other defendants, the objective of the U.S. charges is “political.”
Mérida detained in Arizona
Mérida, security minister in Sinaloa between September 2023 and December 2024, was arrested in Arizona last Monday.
Mexico’s Security Cabinet said on social media that Mérida entered Arizona from Nogales, Sonora, and was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service.
The former security minister appeared in U.S. federal court in New York on Friday, according to court records. The indictment charging him and the nine other officials was filed in the United States District Court in the Southern District of New York.
Mérida, 66, is accused of narcotics importation conspiracy; possession of machineguns and destructive devices; and conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices.
According to the indictment, he “received bribes from the Chapitos” — led by sons of convicted drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán — “and, in exchange, provided the Chapitos with, among other things, advance notice of law enforcement raids on drug labs, so that the Chapitos could move their drugs and lab equipment before the raids.”
Mérida, a former commander in the Mexican Army, is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada is also detained.
Díaz surrenders in New York
Díaz, the administration and finance minister in Sinaloa from November 2021 to September 2024, turned himself in to authorities in New York on Friday, according to reports.
He is accused of the same crimes as Mérida. If convicted, both Díaz and Mérida face sentences of up to life in prison.
According to the indictment, Díaz, 50, “helped the Chapitos leaders install corrupt officials to protect the Chapitos’ drug trafficking operations and served as” a liaison “between the Chapitos leaders and Rocha Moya.”
At her Monday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum said she saw “no risk” in declarations that Mérida and Díaz could make to U.S. authorities.
“It was their decision to turn themselves in and there is no risk, none,” Sheinbaum said, apparently dismissing the possibility that the two former state ministers could implicate other officials and politicians affiliated with Morena and/or say things that could damage her government.
Morena senator says he is in Sinaloa after reports claimed he was arrested in San Diego
There were reports over the weekend that federal Senator Enrique Inzunza had been arrested in San Diego by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
However, in a social media post on Sunday, Inzunza — who is also accused of colluding with the Chapitos — said he was in Sinaloa.
“What right-wing media outlets are publishing about contact with foreign authorities is false,” he wrote.
“… I’m in Sinaloa, my land, of which I am proud, with me and mine, good and honest people,” said Inzunza, who told the newspaper La Jornada that there was no chance he would turn himself in to U.S. authorities.
In his social media post, the senator rejected the charges against him, describing them as “mendacious” and without foundation. Inzunza asserted that his innocence will be proven in due course and expressed his willingness to attend to any requirements of Mexican authorities.
Of the 10 officials accused of drug trafficking by U.S. prosecutors, Inzunza is the only one who remains in office. He has been a senator since September 2024 and previously served as general secretary of the Sinaloa government led by Rocha.
Even though he is accused of aiding and abetting the Chapitos, Inzunza is considered a possible candidate for Morena in the 2027 gubernatorial election in Sinaloa, the El Universal newspaper reported. Edgar Barraza Castillo, president of Morena’s executive committee in Sinaloa, said last week that both Inzunza and Culiacán Mayor Juan de Dios Gámez Mendívil could participate in the process to select Morena’s candidate for the election as long as they meet the contest “requirements.”
With reports from Reuters, El País, El Universal and Reforma
