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The Government of Mexico denied on Thursday that the governor of Sinaloa on leave, Rubén Rocha Moya, accused by the US of having ties to drug trafficking, is being kept in a military facility of the Armed Forces, amidst rumors questioning his current whereabouts.
The federal Security Cabinet dismissed as "absolutely false" two columns in two Mexican newspapers which maintain that Rocha Moya, of the ruling National Regeneration Movement (Morena), is being protected by the Army following an operation to change the location of the politician, whose urgent arrest for extradition purposes is being demanded by Washington.
"No institution that is part of the Security Cabinet carried out an operation for that purpose. Likewise, it is false that Rubén Rocha Moya is or has remained under the protection of the Army at the 9th Military Zone, at the III Military Region, or at any other military installation in the country," it stated in a release.
In this regard, it noted that in the administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum, "no one is protected" and they dismissed the idea that there are actions to "hide any person from investigations or actions by national or foreign authorities."
Finally, the Security Cabinet defended its work in the detention of more than 56,000 people during the current six-year term of Sheinbaum for "high-impact crimes," including 87 public servants "linked to criminal activities."
"Through intelligence and investigative work, we have fought not only criminal leaderships but also their operational structures, logistical networks, cells generating violence, and sources of financing," the Mexican authorities concluded.
When questioned about this controversy during her daily press conference, the President of Mexico insisted that she will not "defend anyone as long as there is evidence," while maintaining her executive branch's refusal to arrest the governor of Sinaloa due to a lack of indications.
Likewise, Sheinbaum stated that Rocha Moya "is at his home" in Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa, and that "he does not even have federal protection," which is why she attributed this information to an attempt to "damage the government."
Finally, she accused the US of resorting "many times" to drug trafficking accusations in order to "create a situation of interference or weakening" in a country.
The US Department of Justice accused the governor of Sinaloa and nine other state officials in April of collaborating in exchange for bribes with the criminal group Los Chapitos, a faction of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel.
[Publicidad]