10 current, former Mexican officials face US drug charges
The Justice Department announced Wednesday that it indicted 10 current and former Mexican officials, including Rubén Rocha Moya, the governor of Sinaloa state, on drug-trafficking charges.
A release from the U.S. government 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 denied the allegations in a statement, saying they’re “entirely false and without foundation. He accused the U.S. government of violating Mexico’s sovereignty, The New York Times reported.
Each of the suspects 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.
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