MEXICO CITY, Aug 21 (Reuters) - The governor of Mexico's Sinaloa state, Ruben Rocha Moya, returned to office on Friday after taking leave for more than three months following U.S. drug trafficking charges, a move likely to deepen strains between Mexico and the United States.
Rocha, 77, a member of Mexico's ruling Morena party, said in a statement posted on X that he was resuming his duties, and added that Mexican authorities found no evidence to support the accusations against him.
The move appears to cap a remarkable turnaround for Rocha, who has not only avoided, for now, extradition to the United States but has now reclaimed the governor's office.
It also underscores the complexities of U.S.-Mexico security cooperation: despite years of joint efforts against cartels, Mexico remains deeply resistant to U.S. actions it sees as encroaching on its sovereignty.
The Mexican government is "more than happy to extradite drug lords if the U.S. wishes, but they're not so eager to extradite members of the political party of their president," said Martin Castillo, a public policy expert at the University of Chicago.
In his statement on X, Rocha denied wrongdoing and cast the U.S. case as a politically motivated attack on Mexico's sovereignty and on the leftist movement led by President Claudia Sheinbaum.
"I am innocent of the falsehoods that have been fabricated against me by representatives of the far right who sought, as is now fully evident, to damage the left-wing political movement to which I belong and whose principles I fully embrace and represent. Today I return to my responsibilities as Governor of Sinaloa with a clear conscience, my head held high, and the truth on my side."
Mexico's interior ministry appeared to distance itself from Rocha's statement, saying his decision to return to office was a personal one and that the attorney general's office investigation into him and others accused by the U.S. is ongoing.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department did not answer questions about how it will respond to Rocha's return to power.
"The Sinaloa Cartel traffics deadly drugs to the United States and is a designated terrorist organization that could not operate without the help of corrupt officials," the spokesperson said.
RARE CHARGES AGAINST GOVERNOR
In April, U.S. prosecutors alleged Rocha and nine other current and former officials conspired with a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel known as Los Chapitos, helping it traffic drugs into the United States in exchange for political support and bribes.
The indictment marked a rare expansion of anti-cartel action beyond drug bosses to include a sitting senior Mexican politician. Washington has frequently accused Mexican politicians of having ties to organized crime, but Rocha is the first sitting governor to face charges by the U.S.
The accusations inflamed tensions between the countries, which are close allies. Even as Mexican authorities initiated their own investigation into Rocha in early May, Sheinbaum framed the case as foreign interference by the U.S. and used it to intensify her calls for national sovereignty.
Since then, Mexico has said Washington had not provided sufficient evidence to justify Rocha's arrest or extradition.
"It's difficult to imagine Rocha returning to office without President Sheinbaum's blessing. It's a sign that the government wants to reinforce its message that there is no evidence of collusion between Morena politicians and organized crime," said Antonio Ocaranza, a political consultant and former spokesperson for former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo.
"The big question is how the U.S. government will react to this decision."
David Mora, a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group, said Rocha's return to power puts Sheinbaum in an "even more complicated position because now she's going to have to deal with more pressure coming from the U.S."
(Reporting by Diego Ore, Kylie Madry and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon, Emily Green and Matthew Lewis)
