The US justice department has charged the governor of Sinaloa and nine other current and former officials for alleged ties to the Sinaloa cartel, accusing them of aiding in the massive importation of illicit narcotics into the United States .

Some officials were members of Mexico’s progressive ruling party, Morena, posing a political conundrum for Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum as she seeks to offset mounting pressures from the Trump administration.

The 10 people charged in Manhattan federal court are current and former government or law enforcement officials in Sinaloa, including Rubén Rocha Moya, 76, who has been the governor of Mexico’s Sinaloa state since November 2021.

The indictment alleges the governor was elected in 2021 with the help of the Sinaloa cartel, which allegedly kidnapped and intimidated political rivals in exchange for protection of their operations once in power.

Charges against Moya included narcotics importation conspiracy and possession of machine guns and destructive devices, along with another conspiracy count. If convicted, he could face life in prison or a mandatory minimum of 40 years behind bars.

Responding to the indictment, Rocha Moya wrote on X that he “categorically and unequivocally reject[s]” the charges, which were “completely untrue and without any basis”.

“It is part of a perverse strategy to violate (Mexico’s) constitutional order, specifically on national sovereignty, ” he wrote in a post on X on Wednesday afternoon. “We will show them that this slander doesn’t have any sort of foundation.”

US ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson said that combating transnational crime was a shared priority between the US and Mexico.

“Our countries have pledged to strengthen transparency, enforce anti-corruption laws, and uphold the rule of law. That is what our citizens on both sides of the border want and, as I have said repeatedly, this is what they deserve.”

President Sheinbaum is yet to comment on the charges, but the foreign relations secretariat released a statement saying it had received various extradition requests from the US government, adding the attorney general’s office would determine whether there was sufficient evidence to detain those charged.

Authorities alleged the defendants played critical roles in helping the cartel ship fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine from Mexico into the US. The Sinaloa cartel is among eight Latin American crime groups designated as terrorist organizations by the US government.

Under pressure from the Trump administration, which has threatened tariffs and unilateral military action, the Mexican government has ramped up its arrests and drug seizures across the country, transferred roughly 100 high-level cartel operatives to US prisons, and launched operations against kingpins.

In the last two months, the Mexican military killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho”, the leader of the Jalisco new generation cartel, and arrested Audias Flores, who was a possible successor.

With Associated Press