Sinaloa Governor Being Investigated by Sheinbaum Administration, Sinaloa & Durango SEDENA General Relieved of Command

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

From an Investigation by Proceso

Morena governor Rubén Rocha Moya is on the brink of the abyss as he reaches the halfway point of his six-year term. Cornered by his alleged relationship with the Sinaloa Cartel and with the territory he governs semi-paralyzed by the violence that has left dozens of victims, the governor is under the scrutiny of the intelligence agencies of the Mexican federal government due to the suspicion of having taken the side of the criminal group Los Chapitos, betraying the Mayo Zambada faction.

According to information obtained by Proceso, the National Intelligence Center (CNI) and military intelligence services “are personally following and keeping Rocha Moya under surveillance” on the instructions of then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and with the approval of President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Rocha Living in the Sinaloa Admin Building

One of the reports, titled “Sinaloa. Governor Rocha Moya spends the night in the Government Palace for fear of being attacked,” shows the monitoring of the governor’s activities and records his “extreme nervousness” and “deep concern” after the capture of Mayo , the murder of the former rector of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, Melesio Cuén, and the violence between the two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel that occurs mainly in the state capital and its surroundings.

The report states that Rocha Moya sleeps on the third floor of the Administrative Unit (where he usually works), under 24-hour surveillance, security that has been reinforced for him and his family, and to which elements of the National Guard and Navy contribute, including snipers and the use of level six armored trucks, one of the highest that exist in Mexico.

Death Threats

On September 19, the governor publicly admitted to being the target of death threats:

"There are many who want me to die, but that is not a matter of taste, of this or that; and we must assume our responsibility with all the risks."

In this whole plot, which has as its setting a violence unleashed in the state, there is one more name that appears: that of Chapo Isidro (Fausto Isidro Meza Flores). According to the intelligence file, he would be supporting the faction of the son of Mayo, Ismael Zambada Sicairos, Mayito Flaco . This was agreed upon in an alleged meeting between both cartel bosses.

The report attributed to the CNI and the Sedena indicates that another person who is under constant surveillance is the former Secretary of Government and now Senator for Morena, Enrique Inzunza Cázarez.

For this investigation, the documents indicate, "a team of four investigators has been commissioned" sent from the center of the country and supported by personnel from the delegation of the National Intelligence Center in Sinaloa.

The Attorney General's Office (FGR) is aware of all of these facts, and "on the President's instructions" it took on the investigation into the murder of Melesio Cuén and the alleged illegal deprivation of Ismael el Mayo Zambada.

In just 10 days, the clash between the factions of Los Chapitos and the people of Mayo has reached tragic results.

The criminal activity has plunged Culiacán into losses estimated at at least 500 million pesos a day, due to the closure of businesses and little or no productive activity in all types of businesses.

The clashes also impact children, confined to their homes taking classes remotely, despite the order of the State Secretariat of Public Education and Culture (SEPyC) which insists that students must attend school. The city, between September 9 and 29, has suffered a notable loneliness.

Furthermore, the call made on September 19 by chambers, associations and non-governmental organizations in a media advertisement to end drug violence, makes the reality of the state even more complicated, as does the situation of the governor.

The turbulent situation in Sinaloa has set off alarm bells in Governor Rocha's inner circle, who until recently received the support of then-presidents López Obrador and the elected governor, Claudia Sheinbaum, despite the fact the Sinaloa governor was openly an ally and promoter of Adán Augusto López Hernández, former Secretary of the Interior and now president of the Political Coordination Board in the Senate.

Federal government intelligence documents, dated September, indicate that, in addition to the state governor, his son José Rocha Ruiz is also under surveillance; he is, in fact, identified as the link between the governor and the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel via high-ranking officials, such as the head of the Sinaloa Tax Administration Service (SATES), José Carlos Cárdenas Mellado, appointed to the post by Rocha himself on August 19.

Tax Investigation

In a section of the report, titled “José Carlos Cárdenas Mellado, new head of SATES of the Government of the State of Sinaloa,” links are mentioned between Rubén Rocha (the first left-wing governor in Sinaloa) and his son José Rocha Ruiz with Los Chapitos via the aforementioned official.

“José Carlos was the governor’s liaison with the Chapitos,” reads one of the pages of the federal intelligence file.

José Rocha Ruiz is the youngest of the governor's sons and the one with the least business activity, according to what was known until now in the state.

However, it was only on September 19 that the company Chocosa Ranch, Sociedad de Producción Rural de Responsabilidad Limitada, was registered in the Public Registry. Its business is the purchase, sale, breeding, production and fattening of cattle, bovine, equine, pig, goat and any type of animal in general, as well as the export and import of all types of livestock.

The governor's three sons (José, Rubén and Ricardo) have obtained contracts from 2009 to 2017 for more than 63 million pesos, according to an investigation by journalist Silber Meza for the non-governmental organization Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity.

The intelligence file states that José has ties of friendship with the head of SATES, Cárdenas Mellado, with whom he was a schoolmate and roommate when they both attended university in Monterrey.

“José Carlos (Cárdenas Mellado) and his father have had a long-standing relationship with the Chapitos,” the report states, according to which the now state official has been in charge during the first three years of government of “approving” purchases and payments from the government itself, since all of this “was discussed with the governor.”

On September 15, the SATES website was hacked and a threat was posted directed at the governor himself. The website of the Colegio de Bachilleres del Estado de Sinaloa (Cobaes), which was directed by a brother of Enrique Inzunza Cázarez, now a senator for Morena, was also hacked. The current director is José Jaime Montes Salas.

General Ojeda Relieved of Duties

General Francisco Jesús Leana Ojeda was relieved of his post as commander of the Third Military Region, which includes Durango and Sinaloa, and as of this Friday, command has been taken by Brigadier General Guillermo Briseño Lobera.

Leana Ojeda became a trending topic after he told the media on Sunday, September 16, that peace in the state depends on organized crime groups stopping fighting.

"We want it to happen as quickly as possible, but it doesn't depend on us, it depends on the antagonistic groups to stop confronting each other and to leave society in peace," he said when asked about the date on which peace will be restored in Sinaloa.

This has sparked nationwide criticism for a state that has been mired in clashes between rival groups of the Sinaloa Cartel, the Chapitos and the Mayitos, since September 9.

Through a statement, the Anti-Corruption Citizen Network of the Citizen Participation Committee (CPC) of the State and Municipal System of Sinaloa, 54 organizations, as well as individuals issued a statement so that municipal, state authorities and the new federal administration, as well as security and justice agencies, have a comprehensive plan to restore peace to the families of Sinaloa.

“We are not exaggerating when we say that over the last twenty-two days we have observed with terror an increase in criminal activities such as murders, disappearances, shootings, roadblocks and vehicle theft, which has generated uncertainty, isolation and devastating effects on society,” they said.

The change of command took place during the security meeting at the facilities of the Third Military Region in Mazatlán, attended by Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, as well as Norberto Cortés Rodríguez representing the Sedena and Héctor Eduardo Vela Valenzuela, Secretary General of the Government of Durango.

Mazatlan Mayor Carjacked

Less than a month after taking office, Estrella Palacios Domínguez, the elected mayor of Mazatlán, had her truck stolen by armed men who intercepted her in Culiacán.

The robbery occurred minutes after 12:00 p.m. when the elected municipal president was driving in a white Chevrolet Tahoe pickup truck, 2021 model, on the Culiacán-Mazatlán maxi highway, near the municipality of Costa Rica and the municipality of Eldorado, where an armed group, aboard several units and maintaining a checkpoint on the San Lorenzo River bridge, intercepted her and forced her to get out along with the people accompanying her, taking the unit.

Palacios and his team were left on the edge of the highway, along with other motorists who were driving in the area, and who also had their vehicles taken away.

The armed group searched the belongings and cell phones, as well as the vehicles in which some of the drivers were traveling, before letting them go.

UAS Rector Forced to Resign

Following the resignation of the head of the rector's office, Robespierre Lizárraga Otero, the UAS announced an indefinite work stoppage starting at the first minute of next Monday, October 7.

Candelario Ortiz Bueno, who remained in charge of the rector's office, announced that they made the decision due to the series of abuses committed against the university over a year and a half and listed the approval of the General Law of Higher Education, the reform to the Organic Law of the UAS and the removal from office of rector Jesús Madueña Molina in October 2023 and that of Lizárraga Otero this morning.

He said that democratic principles have been eroded and the culture of legality banished because the arbitrary and capricious will of Governor Rubén Rocha Moya prevails in Sinaloa.

The Governor of Sinaloa has only one strategic ally left and he is in the Senate: the president of the Political Coordination Board, Adán Augusto López Hernández, of whom the governor was an enthusiastic promoter during the Morena presidential pre-campaign, as was the elected federal deputy Héctor Melesio Cuén.

Sinaloa's Not Top 5 in Violence

In the first meeting of the Security Cabinet, President Claudia Sheinbaum stressed that Sinaloa has not been among the top five states with the highest number of intentional homicides, but the state cannot yet be considered calm, so she asked to wait for a more detailed analysis; Guanajuato is still a concern.

“Yes, we had the first (cabinet) meeting, by the way, Sinaloa does not appear among the five states with the highest number of homicides, the first is still Guanajuato, there was Chihuahua, State of Mexico but the highest again was Guanajuato,” he said, after a wave of violence was registered in recent weeks between factions of the Sinaloa Cartel due to the arrest of leaders of the criminal group, especially Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, which totaled more than 150 deaths in the past 4 weeks. 

In addition to the cabinet meetings, this Wednesday, Sheinbaum asked the Attorney General's Office (FGR) to send a person representing Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero to have greater coordination in the data for the analysis of security. On October 8, the federal administration will present the National Security Plan, “there are some initiatives that we are going to send, especially to strengthen intelligence and investigation.”

The municipalities with the highest number of homicides, according to figures from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP), are: Colima (Colima), Tijuana (Baja California), Acapulco (Guerrero), Celaya (Guanajuato), Cajeme (Sonora), Ciudad Juárez (Chihuahua), Tlajomulco de Zúñiga (Jalisco), Chihuahua (Chihuahua), León (Guanajuato) and Benito Juárez (Quintana Roo).

Governor Rocha met with the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Omar García Harfuch, in Mexico City.

“We discussed the security situation in Sinaloa at length. At the suggestion of the Secretary, we explored the possibility of the @Gobierno MX security cabinet meeting in Sinaloa in the near future,” he posted on his X account.

Sources Proceso, Proceso, Proceso