U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin arrived for a visit to Mexico on May 21st.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated on her Twitter X account that “We received at the National Palace the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security of the United States, Markwayne Mullin. We agreed to continue collaborating jointly within the framework of respect between our countries.”
May 18th-28th is Africa Week in Mexico. According to a press release from the SRE (Mexican Foreign Ministry) on the first day of Africa Week, Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco “highlighted Mexico’s commitment to strengthening its political, economic, academic, and cultural ties with Africa”.
Robert Djerou Ly (Ambassador of Ivory Coast to Mexico), Mexican Foreign Minister Velasco, Mexican Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs María Teresa Mercado Pérez Source: Government of Mexico
Don’t worry, Chancellor Velasco. There is already a strong Mexican economic link with Africa, managed by the major Mexican drug cartels, which already have their claws in the continent of Africa.
According to Dagvin Anderson, Supreme Commanding General of US Africa Command (USAFRICOM), “Terrorist groups based in Africa are increasingly funded by Mexican cartels. In South Africa, we dismantled the largest laboratory, and it had members of the Sinaloa Cartel. The Jalisco New Generation is also involved with methamphetamine!”
General Dagvin Anderson, U.S. Air Force. Supreme Commanding General of US Africa Command Source: United States Africa Command
From Nigeria: “Nigeria’s anti-drugs agency said on Wednesday [May 20] it had uncovered what it described as the country’s largest-ever industrial-scale meth lab in a southwestern remote forest and arrested nine suspects, including three Mexican nationals.
“The raid on a remote farm revealed an ‘industrial-scale clandestine laboratory, the biggest ever discovered in Nigeria hidden in a remote forest in Ogun state [SW Nigeria],’ the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said in a statement.
“The operation, which also included raids on two residential properties in an upscale Lagos neighbourhood, recovered chemicals worth $362,922,000, including crystal meth, it added.”
On the other side of Africa, “Mozambique has long been a key transit point for the trafficking of drugs such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and opioids, but recent arrests and government data show that the drug business is expanding alongside rising concerns of domestic addiction problems.“
“After months of investigating evidence and rumors of international cartel activity and at least two hidden drug labs in the nation’s capital, police arrested three men — a Mozambican and two Mexican nationals — during an April 11 anti-drug-trafficking operation at Maputo International Airport.”
“ ‘There is strong evidence linking the three detainees to international drug trafficking, document forgery and criminal association,’ the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) said in an April 16 statement. ‘The two Mexicans were identified as members of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico and intended to establish themselves in the national territory, specifically in Matutuine district, Maputo province.’ ”
The aforementioned General Anderson told lawmakers of the United States House Armed Services Committee that “The convergence of terrorism and narco-trafficking further exacerbates these threats. African-based terror groups are financed to an increasing degree by drug cartels, expanding those terror group’s reach and lethality. This convergence not only destabilises the region but also poses a direct threat to US national security interests.”
“Since 2024, we have seen an increased flow of drugs emanating from the Americas through Africa into Europe, with a nearly sixfold increase of cocaine flowing across the Atlantic Ocean. Additionally, Mexican, Venezuelan, and Caribbean cartels seek to franchise industrial-scale drug production on the continent by exporting lab expertise to Africa and using Africa as a transshipment point to generate revenue.”
“Both the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel have established methamphetamine production labs in Africa to exploit an expanding market in permissive regions. Mexican cartel members were arrested during raids in several African countries at some of the largest labs ever discovered.”
The Sinaloa Ten are ten officials or former officials of the state of Sinaloa under indictment by a U.S. federal court for collusion with the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa drug cartel. (Click here for the list).
As of my latest previous article on the topic, there were two of the ten (Gerardo Merida Sanchez and Enrique Diaz Vega) in U.S. custody.
Another member of the Sinaloa Ten, Enrique Inzunza Cazarez, a sitting senator in the Mexican Federal Congress and former Secretary General for Sinaloa, is now in U.S. custody. That brings the total in U.S. custody to 3 out of 10.
From the New York Daily Post: “Sinaloa Senator Enrique Inzunza Cazárez, who is facing drug trafficking and weapon charges, was taken into custody in San Diego by the Drug Enforcement Administration, multiple Mexican news outlets reported on Saturday [May 16].”
Think about it. Of the Sinaloa Ten, 3 are now in U.S. custody.
What inside information do you think they are sharing with U.S. interrogators?
What do you think the 7 indictees still not in U.S. custody are thinking?
The Mexican consular network in the U.S.A. is the biggest in the world, consisting of 53 consulates on U.S. soil.
Mexican Consulates in the U.S. Oklahoma City Consulate not included. Source: Indyencyclopedia
In a recent Mexico News Report article (Are There Too Many Mexican Consulates in the U.S.A. ?) I reported that the U.S. State Department is reviewing all 53 Mexican consulates, with the view of possibly shuttering some.
A recent article on the Mexico Daily Post reports that the U.S. is especially looking at 20 Mexican consulates: “The State Department’s review of the operations of 53 Mexican consulates located in the United States has begun, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio is particularly focused on 20 consulates in Mexico where consuls or vice-consuls have been identified as active members of the Morena party who have used diplomatic spaces to organize and conduct political and partisan activities in the United States.”
“According to U.S. sources, violations of diplomatic treaties allegedly committed by several Mexican Foreign Service officials since the previous presidential term are being documented, and a report will be presented soon that could lead the Trump administration to order the closure of several Mexican consulates for engaging in political campaigning within U.S. territory. Most of the violations involve partisan acts and meetings of Morena Exterior, which, despite being a political organization, had access to the consular network to conduct political work with Mexican migrant communities.”
Mexico’s indictment crisis continues and now there are actually two of the indicted in U.S. custody.
A U.S. federal court indicted ten Mexican officials and former officials, all from the state of Sinaloa, for involvement with the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. The ten are all government officials or former government officials from the state of Sinaloa, home of the Sinaloa Cartel. (See here, here, here , here and here and here).
The biggest fish being indicted is Ruben Rocha Moya, Governor of the state of Sinaloa, and a member of President Sheinbaum’s MORENA party. Rocha took a temporary leave of absence from the governorship to fight the charges.
A sitting Mexican Senator from Sinaloa, Enrique Inzunza Cazarez, also the former Secretary General for Sinaloa. Inzunza is a member of President Sheinbaum’s MORENA party.
Enrique Diaz Vega, Former Secretary of Administration and Finance for Sinaloa
Damaso Castro Saavedra, 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, a/k/a “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, a/k/a “Tornado”, Former Deputy Director of the Sinaloa State Police
Juan de Dios Gamez Mendivil, Mayor of Culiacan (Sinaloa’s capital and largest city). Gamez has taken temporary leave also.
Juan Valenzuela Millan, a/k/a “Juanito”, Former high-level commander in the Culiacan Municipal Police
Gerardo Merida Sanchez (#7 on the list above). On May 11th, Merida crossed the border from the state of Sonora into the U.S., where U.S. Marshalls took him into custody at the Nogales border crossing. Merida was taken to New York City where he appeared in court on May 15th and is scheduled to appear again on June 1st.
So now two of the ten indicted Sinaloans are in U.S. custody. What is going to happen to the other eight ?
And here’s another consideration. If you were one of ten officials/former officials indicted, would it be better to be one of the first to be indicted or one of the last to be indicted? What are Merida and Diaz revealing about the others in current interrogations?
South Korean pop culture has in recent years become more noted on the world stage. See, for example, the success of Squid Game (Ojingeo geim).
South Korean pop music, known as K-Pop, has won many international adherents, including in Mexico. In fact, Mexico is the fifth-largest market for South Korean popular music.
BTS, a popular South Korean seven-man boy group, recently did some concerts in Mexico, and was a big hit. BTS has appeared in Mexico before, in 2014 , 2015, and 2017.
BTS at the White House in 2022. Source: White House
This time, the boys of BTS were hosted on May 6th at Mexico’s Palacio Nacional by President Claudia Sheinbaum herself.
Also during their visit, 4 members of BTS attended a lucha libre wrestling match in the Arena México.
The pop group’s three concerts were held at Mexico City’s GNP Seguros Stadium on May 7th, 9th and 10th, with thousands of fans gatherered outside for whom there was no more room inside.
The BTS spectacle was going on at the same time as the indictment crisis, in which 10 Mexican officials or former officials, chief among them Ruben Rocha who was governor of Sinaloa, have been indicted in the United States. (See here, here, here and here and here).
A Mexican cartoon portrays Claudia Sheinbaum with the members of BTS and all the fans, as she yells to Ruben Roche “Run, I’m Distracting Them!” Rocha exits through a door.
Ruben Rocha Moya, the governor of the state of Sinaloa, was the biggest fish of the ten Mexican officials and former officials recently indicted by a U.S. federal court for collusion with the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa cartel.
Ruben Rocha and Claudia Sheinbaum in happier times. Source: Proceso
On May 2nd, at 12:05 a.m, on a pre-recorded video, Governor Rocha announced that he was taking a temporary leave of absence from the governorship, in order to fight the charges.
After that, Rocha wasn’t seen or heard from for a week. In keeping with the typical Mexican sense of humor, this meme appeared, portraying Ruben Rocha as a missing person on a milk carton:
On May 13th, Mexico Daily Post reported this: “Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya reportedly left Culiacán’s Government Palace aboard a military helicopter with his sons, following revelations published by Proceso about his presence in the building. The incident has fueled speculation about political tensions and the governor’s relationship with federal authorities.”
What was Rocha doing at the Sinaloa state capitol if he took a temporary leave of absence from the governorship?
Well, according to Proceso, reports indicate that Rocha, despite his temporary leave of absence, is still involved in the governance of Sinaloa.
Another Proceso article reports the theory of security analyst David Saucedo. According to Saucedo, Rocha is being held by the Mexican Navy while President Sheinbaum negotiates with the United States.
If Ruben Rocha is arrested and tried, is it not likely that, in order to reduce his sentence, he would blow the whistle on other high-level Mexican politicians colluding with narcos?
That leads us to another humorous Mexican meme: “MORENA politicians erasing photos with Rocha Moya“:
The job of a consulate is to represent Country A in the territory of Country B and to serve citizens of Country A who reside in Country B.
When I resided in Mexico I traveled a few times to the nearest American consulate and received help there.
Mexican consulates provide services to help Mexicans in the U.S. They also help Americans who are doing business with Mexico.
However, is it really necessary to have 53 Mexican consulates on U.S. soil?
A few years ago, one the latest consulates to be added was in Oklahoma City. This was despite the fact that there were already consulates in four states bordering Oklahoma: Kansas City, Missouri; Little Rock, Arkansas; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Denver, Colorado and eleven (!) in Texas, the nearest to Oklahoma being the Mexican consulate in Dallas.
Think about it. If Mexican immigrants traveled all the way from Mexico to the U.S., it shouldn’t be a problem to travel to another state to do business at a Mexican consulate.
Mexican Consulates in the U.S.A. Oklahoma City Consulate not included. Source: indyencyclopedia
There’s another issue involved here. Mexican consulates have often crossed the line from helping Mexicans in the U.S. to meddling in U.S. immigration and citizenship policy.
For example, in the aforementioned case of Oklahoma City, shortly after being installed there in the new Mexican consulate, blonde Mexican Consul Edurne Pineda publicly campaigned against a law under consideration in the Oklahoma legislature. That is not a legitimate consular activity. And it is certainly not the only example of Mexican consular meddling.
The U.S. government now has the Mexican consulates under review and might reduce their number.
From CBS News: “The State Department is initiating a review of all 53 Mexican consulates operating in the United States, a U.S. official told CBS News on Thursday [May 7], in a move that could lead Secretary of State Marco Rubio to consider ordering the closure of some diplomatic offices...A State Department official said the review is part of a broader effort to align U.S. foreign policy with the Trump administration’s priorities.”
I would think that the number of Mexican consulates in the U.S. could be significantly reduced and they would still have enough to carry out legitimate consular activity.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s political party is MORENA, the Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (National Regeneration Movement).
MORENA party symbol: “MORENA -The Hope of Mexico” Source: Wikimedia Commons
Amazingly, the MORENA party has only existed as a political party for 12 years, since 2014. It was founded by Sheinbaum’s predecessor President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO). It is now the biggest and most powerful political party in Mexico and runs the government. (See The Astonishing Growth and Power of Mexico’s MORENA Party).
There is currently a political crisis in Mexico resulting from the U.S. indictment of ten officials and former officials of the cartel-infested state of Sinaloa. (See here, here and here).
That crisis is, according to a recent Reuters article, affecting the unity of the mighty MORENA party.
From Reuters: “A U.S. indictment announced last week accusing several Mexican politicians, including the governor of Sinaloa, of having drug cartel ties is triggering a rift in the ruling Morena party as factions jostle over how to respond, posing a significant challenge for President Claudia Sheinbaum…behind the scenes, a heated dispute has broken out along pre-existing fault lines within the ruling party, three senior Morena officials told Reuters. The dispute has centered on the future of Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha, an influential Morena politician who said last Friday he would step down temporarily as a local investigation proceeds.”
What are the factions within MORENA ?
There’s this one: “The powerful faction in Morena that is loyal to former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the movement’s founder and de facto leader, has vehemently opposed any action that could be regarded as giving in to U.S. pressure, the sources said. That faction is led by Supreme Court Justice Lenia Batres and her brother Martí, who is in charge of Mexico’s public-sector social security agency ISSSTE, as well as Morena congressional leaders Ignacio Mier and Ricardo Monreal. The group was against Rocha stepping down, believing he should be allowed to continue in his post until allegations of cartel ties were proven in Mexico – an uncertain process that could take years to play out. They also regard any consideration of U.S. extradition as a betrayal of Mexican sovereignty. Rocha is a longtime ally of López Obrador.”
Then there’s the other one: “On the other side of the dispute is a growing and influential group of younger leaders, headed by the party’s new chief Ariadna Montiel, who see the Rocha indictment as an opportunity to finally combat corruption within the ranks of the ruling party. That faction is more naturally aligned with Sheinbaum although the leader remains indebted to her predecessor and mentor whose overwhelming popularity secured her electoral victory.”
How could the rift affect MORENA politically? “The confrontation marks a potential crossroads for Morena, according to officials and political analysts. Potentially at stake, they say, is the ruling party’s super majority in Congress formed through a coalition with the Labor Party and the Green Party. Any sense of an internal split could also hurt Morena at thepolls. ‘Behind closed doors, the fractures within the party are evident,’ said a senior Morena leader aligned with López Obrador. ‘It’s clear that whatever happens with Rocha will have an impact on the party’s future.’ ”
Here is Sheinbaum’s dilemma: “On the one hand, a public sense that she has betrayed Lopez Obrador by doing the bidding of the United States could harm Morena as a political force. But Mexicans are also increasingly angry about corruption and alleged collusion between politicians and organized crime, especially in places devastated by cartel violence like Sinaloa. If Sheinbaum is seen to be turning a blind eye or sweeping serious accusations under the carpet, it could severely damage her credibility.”
As reported in a previous article, on April 29th a U.S. federal court indicted ten Mexican officials and former officials, all from the state of Sinaloa, for involvement with the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. There may be more indictments on the way.
Of the ten indicted, two have already taken temporary leave of their positions: Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya and Juan de Dios Gamez Mendivil, Mayor of Culiacan (Sinaloa’s capital and largest city).
So what is President Claudia Sheinbaum going to do about all this? How will it affect the rest of her presidency?
Arrest all ten of these guys and send them to the United States? Arrest all ten of these guys and try them in Mexico? Don’t arrest or extradite any of them? Actively defend them? Arrest some of them but not all of them? Hope it all just blows over?
There are risks for her with any option.
There are political risks in going against political allies and her political base. How about retaliation from narcos?
The national sovereignty argument is very strong in Mexico politics, especially regarding the United States. Sovereignty is a valuable argument for the politician of any country.
On the other hand, aren’t the drug cartels threats against Mexican sovereignty? How sovereign can a government be with these powerful cartels running rampant?
Thus far Sheinbaum has had a good relationship with U.S. President Trump. She has cooperated with the U.S. on security issues and in receiving back deported Mexicans.
At the same time, Trump and others have spoken about anti-cartel intervention in Mexico. Would the Trump administration plan a Venezuela-style capture of Ruben Rocha, for example?
What does the Mexican public think about all this?
As reported on May 1st by Whitney Eulich, Special Correspondent of The Monitor, “A rapid poll by Mexican pollster Massive Caller this week found that more than 70% of respondents believe Gov. Rocha Moya is guilty of narco-trafficking. Almost 80% said he should be extradited to the U.S.”
Still, Mexican political analyst David Saucedo points out that “When you ask Mexicans if they agree with U.S. intervention, they’re still against it.”
What about the political opposition?
On May 6th, a press conference was held by Ricardo Anaya Cortes of the PAN Party. Anaya is the party’s coordinator in the Mexican Senate.
Accompanied by other PANistas, Senator Anaya forcefully spoke about the situation. Anaya said that they already knew that Rocha was with the narcos, he should be detained and extradited to the U.S., and that Sheinbaum’s ruling MORENA party is a “narco partido” (narco-party).
Ricardo Anaya (center) at press conference. Source: Cuartoscuro
Some excerpts (text available here): “We maintain that what we are living in Mexico today is an authentic tragedy. The reality is that today in Mexico a narco party rules.Today there is evidence, there are overwhelming proofs to maintain that MORENA has become a narco-party, the political arm of the drug cartels.What Rocha Moya is being accused of by U.S. authorities is the same thing that we ourselves have already pointed out in a complaint to the OEA in 2021…he [Rocha] and MORENA colluded with the narcos in Sinaloa before the election of 2021…the narcos helped Rocha Moya win the election. How did they help? By kidnapping opposition politicians , by kidnapping political operators of the opposition, permitting Rocha Moya to travel through the whole state and not permitting the opposition to enter territories controlled by organized crime.…once in office, he gave them protection, he gave them positions in the police and allowed the narco-traffickers to practice extortion and traffic drugs from the state of Sinaloa to the United States. We have denounced him for this since 2021.”
Wow!
In the question-answer phase, Anaya said this: “Our demand is that Rocha Moya be detained immediately so he can be extradited and judged, because we know that here in Mexico he will not be judged. They are not going to judge him for a basic reason, because the same thing that Rocha did many other MORENA governors and mayors did, because we know that if Rocha falls many others of MORENA will fall. That’s why Rocha must be extradited and judged in the U.S. Lamentably, that would be the ideal, but lamentably we already know that in Mexico they are going to cover it up, because MORENA and the Narco have become one and the same.”
Just imagine if Rocha is tried in the U.S. In order to lessen his sentence, he might share a lot of information about other Mexican politicians.
By the way, it’s not unprecedented for Mexican governors to be arrested. The administration of Enrique Pena Nieto of the PRI party (2012-2018) arrested and imprisoned several governors for corruption and organized crime links, including governors of Pena Nieto’s own PRI party.
Even Sheinbaum’s own administration has prosecuted mayors of her own party. From The Monitor, “But even before President Donald Trump took office, the Sheinbaum government had launched Operation Swarm in November 2024, targeting cartel crime and political collusion at the municipal level. By February of this year, 60 people across six states had been arrested, including mayors and security officials from the ruling party.”
But what about these U.S. indictments of the Sinaloa gang?
On May 6th, Excelsior reported that President Sheinbaum confirmed that the SRE (Mexican Foreign Ministry) had sent a diplomatic note to the U.S. demanding formal evidence against Rocha Moya and the other 9 indicted by the U.S. court.
Is this a way to stall or does she have a definite plan in mind?
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