Well, on the night of May 1st, Governor Rocha announced that, although he is innocent, he is taking a temporary leave of absence from the governorship, in order to fight the charges.
You can watch a video of Governor Rocha making his statement here.
On April 29th, 2026, 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 indictment was issued by the Southern District of New York, in Manhattan, a U.S. District Court.
Each of the ten were indicted for the same three charges: “Narcotics importation conspiracy; Possession of machineguns and destructive devices; Conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices”.
In addition, one of the accused, Juan Valenzuela Millan, was also indicted for “Kidnapping resulting in death; Conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death”.
The ten are all government officials or former government officials from the state of Sinaloa, home of the Sinaloa Cartel.
The Sinaloa Cartel is currently undergoing an intra-cartel war, pitting La Mayiza faction, led by the son of “El Mayo” Zambada, against the Chapitos, sons of “El Chapo” Guzman. The ten man being indicted are alleged to be associated with the Chapitos faction.
The biggest fish being indicted is Ruben Rocha Moya, current Governor of the state of Sinaloa, and a member of President Sheinbaum’s MORENA party.
According to the press release of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, “…ROCHA MOYA was elected Governor of Sinaloa, a position he has held since on or about November 1, 2021, after the Chapitos allegedly helped him get elected by, among other things, kidnapping and intimidating his rivals. In exchange, both before and after he became Governor, ROCHA MOYA allegedly attended meetings with the Chapitos, at which he promised to protect the Chapitos as they distributed massive quantities of drugs to the United States and, as Governor, ROCHA MOYA has allowed the Chapitos to operate with impunity in Sinaloa. Similarly, the other defendants have directly and repeatedly helped the Chapitos in exchange for massive drug-fueled bribes.”
Another of the accused is 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.
The other eight are: 1.Enrique Diaz Vega, Former Secretary of Administration and Finance for Sinaloa 2. Damaso Castro Saavedra, Deputy Attorney General for the Sinaloa State Attorney General’s Office 3. Marco Antonio Almanza Aviles, Former head of the Investigative Police for the Sinaloa State Attorney General’s Office 4. Alberto Jorge Contreras Nunez, a/k/a “Cholo”, Former head of the Investigative Police for the Sinaloa State Attorney General’s Office 5. Gerardo Merida Sanchez, Former Secretary of Public Security for Sinaloa 6. Jose Antonio Dionisio Hipolito, a/k/a “Tornado”, Former Deputy Director of the Sinaloa State Police 7. Juan de Dios Gamez Mendivil, Mayor of Culiacan (Sinaloa’s capital and largest city) 8. Juan Valenzuela Millan, a/k/a “Juanito”, Former high-level commander in the Culiacan Municipal Police
Note that all of these guys are from the state of Sinaloa, and all of them are current or former government officials.
As the press release explains: “The defendants are all current or former high-ranking government and law enforcement officials in the Mexican State of Sinaloa (“Sinaloa”), including the current Governor of Sinaloa, RUBEN ROCHA MOYA, and are alleged to have partnered with the Sinaloa Cartel to distribute massive quantities of narcotics to the United States.”
On April 30th, in her morning press conference, President Sheinbaum reported that on the night of April 28th, the night before the indictment, “the SRE [Mexican foreign ministry] received 10 documents requesting the provisional detention of the 10 Mexican citizens for the purpose of extradition.”
President Sheinbaum said that“As President of the Republic, my position in the face of these facts is truth, justice and defense of sovereignty…if the office of Attorney General of the Republic….receives conclusive and irrefutable evidence, consistent with Mexican law or in its own investigation finds constitutive elements of a crime it must proceed in accordance with the law under our jurisdiction…we are not going to cover up anybody who has committed a crime. Nevertheless, nevertheless, if there is no clear evidence, it is evident that the objective of these imputations on the part of the [U.S.] Department of Justice is political. It should remain quite clear: we will not permit for any reason the interference or meddling of a foreign government in the decisions that pertain exclusively to the people of Mexico.”
So what follows?
Will President Sheinbaum authorize the extradition of the men, or even some of them, even political allies?
She can expect pressure from the Trump administration on the one side, and on the other side, pressure from her political allies and the Chapitos themselves.
To summarize, a 27-year old Mexican named Julio Cesar Jasso Ramirez went on a shooting rampage. There were two deaths, that of a Canadian tourist and of Jasso himself, who shot himself after coming under attack and being shot by authorities. Others were injured.
Let’s look at various aspects of the shooting.
JASSO
Julio Cesar Jasso was born in 1998 in the state of Guerrero. At the time of the shooting he was a resident of Mexico City.
A Canadian woman was shot and killed by the gunman. Others were wounded, either by being shot or falling. Thirteen were taken to the hospital: 6 Americans, 3 Colombians, 2 Brazilians, 1 Russian and 1 other, either Dutch or Canadian (sources differ). Either way, they were all non-Mexicans.
WEAPONS
Jasso was shooting with an unregistered, 60-year old .38 Special revolver. When he shot himself he still had over 100 rounds. Jasso also had a dagger.
SECURITY AT TEOTIHUACAN
Why didn’t they have tighter security at Teotihuacan? Well, tourist archaeological sites have not been known as scenes of violence. Until this. Now that’s changing, and security is tightening.
MOTIVES
Here’s the $64,000 question – what was Jasso’s motive? Or motives, which is more likely.
COLUMBINE COPYCAT SHOOTING – We know that Jasso was obsessed with the school shooting perpetrated in Columbine, Colorado in 1999. April 20th was the anniversary of that shooting. Upon his death, Jasso had material about Columbine with him at Teotihuacan, and he had an AI image of himself with Columbine school shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.
HITLER – Jasso was said to be a Hitler fan, although I don’t find much specific information about that. April 20th was also Hitler’s birthday.
MESOAMERICAN HUMAN SACRIFICE – Jasso said to hostages: “Don’t move or I’ll sacrifice you (plural)” and ranting “This was built for sacrifices…Not for visiting and taking a f–king, s—ty photo.”
TARGETING FOREIGNERS – The Canadian who died and the 13 who went to the hospital were all non-Mexicans. Many foreign tourists visit Teotihuacan, it’s not hard to run into them. Did Jasso purposely take foreigners hostage or was it coincidence? More eyewitness testimony from tourists could help shed light on this.
In a video recorded on the scene, here is what Jasso says to some hostages: “Y vosotros, y mierda, que habéis venido desde la puta Europa, no vais a regresar.” “You (plural)…who have come from the xxxx Europe, are not going to return.” Curiously, although Jasso speaks in a Mexican accent, here he uses verb forms used in Spain but not in Mexico. What’s going on? Of all the victims who went to the hospital, only 1 or 2 were from Europe. Also, Jasso falsely claimed to hostages that he had already “sacrificed” two Koreans, though there’s no evidence of that.
“BEYOND EARTH” – In some notes Jasso had written he claimed to be inspired from beyond Earth.
CONCLUSION? It seems to me that the Columbine motivation seems to have been the strongest, though it’s quite likely that, as with most people, Jasso had several motivations, including some of these others. There might have also been personal factors: dissatisfaction with personal life, loneliness, etc.
The bottom line is this was a disturbed young man.
IS MEXICO SAFE FOR TOURISTS ?
Millions of tourists visit Mexican annually and few are victims of violence. But it’s quite possible that if people keep reading violent stories about Mexico it could affect tourism levels. But Mexican tourism continues to grow.
WHAT ABOUT THE WORLD CUP?
The 2026 World Cup, the international soccer championship in which national teams compete, is scheduled to be held June 11th to July 19th, 2026 in Mexico, Canada and the United States. The Mexican venues are Mexico City; Monterrey metro (Guadalupe); and the Guadalajara metro (Zapopan).
There are 5.5 million expected visitors to Mexico in June for the World Cup. Let’s hope they’re safe.
MEXICAN HUMOR AND THE TEOTIHUACAN SHOOTINGS
Mexicans have a strong sense of humor and even joke about serious and tragic topics.
Soon after the Teotihuacan shooting, memes came out about it. Besides exhibiting a morbid sense of humor these memes also lampoon the PC Mexican government worldview.
Here are a few:
“Please do not carry out human sacrifices”
“Please Do Not Carry Out Human Sacrifices”. Source: Sir M Twitter X
This one features President Claudia Sheinbaum, who says “If there is a shooting at the Pyramid of the Moon…then visit the Pyramid of the Sun.”
“If there’s a shootout at the Pyramid of the Moon then visit the Pyramid of the Sun” Source: Hiram Rodriguez
This one is based on the “X Days Since Last Accident” sign: “No Human Sacrifices Since 650 A.D. 2026 A.D.”
“No Human Sacrifices Since 650 A.D. 2026 A.D.” Source: VAnzur
Here is an actual Mexican government sign which looks like a parody. It says “Are they trying to assault you? Tell them no. Legally nobody can take your property without your consent.” Seriously?
“Are they trying to assault you? Tell them no. Legally nobody can take your property without your consent.” Source: JulianCoro
So somebody made a parody of that unintentionally parody-like sign. This one reads “Are they trying to shoot you at the pyramids? Tell them no. Legally nobody can shoot you at the pyramids because the use of illegal weapons is prohibited in Mexico.”
“Are they trying to shoot you at the pyramids? Tell them no. Legally nobody can shoot you at the pyramids because the use of illegal weapons is prohibited in Mexico.” Source: Kevin Ruiz
The recent deaths of two American officials in Mexico have set in motion an objection over U.S. intervention and a potential conflict between the first female President of Mexico and the first female Governor of the state of Chihuahua.
As related in a previous article Untimely Deaths of Mexican and U.S. Officials Raises Question of U.S. Intervention for President Sheinbaum, 2 Mexican officials and 2 American officials were killed while returning from an anti-cartel operation. As a result, President Claudia Sheinbaum said that, as reported by the Associated Press, “she would demand explanations over what U.S. and Mexican officials were doing in northern Chihuahua when they died in an accident over the weekend, noting that any joint collaborations between the local government and the U.S. without federal permission would be a violation of Mexican law.”
As it turned out, the two U.S. officials were subsequently reported to be CIA agents.
From The Guardian: “Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, said on Monday [April 27] that her government told the United States, in a diplomatic note, that the unauthorized presence of US officials at an anti-narcotics operation in the northern state of Chihuahua should not be repeated. The incident came to light after two US officials, along with two Mexican officials, were killed in a car crash on 19 April after the operation. Sheinbaum has said the federal government was not aware of the participation of the US officials, who were widely reported to be CIA officers.”
“ ‘What we told [the US] was that the federal government didn’t know about the involvement of these people [in the operation] and we hope that it’s an exception,’ Sheinbaum said in her daily morning press conference.”
“Mexico requested that ‘from now on, as has been done, our constitution and national security law should be followed’, Sheinbaum added, saying that the US had indicated its agreement.”
Also on April 27th, the Chihuahua state attorney general resigned.
From the New York Times: “Amid the fallout, the Chihuahua state attorney general, César Jáuregui Moreno, resigned Monday (April 27), citing ‘omissions’ and ‘inconsistencies’ from his staff that he said failed to inform him that U.S. personnel were present during the drug raid operation that led to the seizure of six drug laboratories.”
Furthermore, it has also been reported that there were 4 foreigners, not just 2, at the operation. A Chihuahua official says however that the 4 foreigners accompanied the operation but did not participate tactically.
There’s a political complication here. The governor of Chihuahua state, the first woman governor of that state, is Maria Eugenia Campos Galvan, known more commonly as Maru Campos. She is a member of the PAN opposition party.
Governor Campos has said that she was unaware of a field operation in her state involving Americans.
The PAN, her political party, supports her.
From La Silla Rota: “The National Action Party (PAN) rallied behind Chihuahua Governor María Eugenia Campos Galván following the controversy generated by the alleged participation of U.S. agents in the dismantling of a drug tunnel in the state. In a statement, the party backed the governor’s position and said it would prioritize providing information to the appropriate authorities before appearing before other bodies…In its statement, the party accused the federal government and Morena of politically exploiting the case instead of recognizing the blow dealt to organized crime. It also criticized Morena governors by mentioning allegations against Rubén Rocha Moya of Sinaloa, Marina del Pilar Ávila of Baja California, and Américo Villarreal of Tamaulipas, while arguing that ‘Morena is not concerned about sovereignty; what bothers them is the blow against organized crime.’ ”
From the Associated Press: “The powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) suffered a new blow on Monday [April 27th] with the arrest in northwestern Mexico of Audias Flores Silva, “El Jardinero” (The Gardener), who was identified as one of the organization’s leaders and for whom the United States was offering a $5 million reward.”
Look at the map above, I wouldn’t consider Nayarit as “northwestern Mexico”.
Here’s a U.S. government wanted poster for The Gardener:
“Flores Silva’s capture comes two months after the military operation in which the cartel’s leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” was killed in the state of Jalisco.” [For information on the El Mencho case, click here and here.]
“The drug lord [Flores Silva] was arrested in the state of Nayarit during an operation carried out by special forces from Mexico’s Secretariat of the Navy (SEMAR), Federal Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said on his X account.” [See Cabinet Profile of Garcia Harfuch here.]
The AP provides some background info on the Gardener: “Flores Silva is originally from the western town of Huetamo, in the state of Michoacán. According to local media, he served as Oseguera Cervantes’ security chief and later took over part of the CJNG’s operations in the states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, Michoacán, and Guerrero, where he controlled several methamphetamine labs and oversaw the operation of various aircraft and clandestine airstrips for drug trafficking.”
The Gardener’s capture sparked off violent response from the cartel.
From Anadolu Ajansı : “Following Flores Silva’s capture, local media reported burnings of vehicles and businesses in Nayarit and Jalisco, recognized strongholds of the CJNG. Violence was reported in at least six municipalities, where authorities have advised citizens to remain in their homes. No injuries have been reported so far.”
The same source provides some more information about the operation: “According to a joint statement issued by the Mexican Navy, the Secretariat of Security and the Attorney General’s Office, Flores Silva was detained while attempting to escape through a drainage pipe at his safe house in Nayarit, a coastal state in western Mexico.”
“Mexican security agencies supported by intelligence from US agencies monitored his movements for 19 months before cornering him in the small community of El Mirador.”
“Despite Flores Silva having a security circle of 60 people and 30 vehicles, Mexican forces managed to capture him without bloodshed, according to reports.”
“ ‘The operation was carried out with surgical precision, without the need to fire a single shot, with no fatalities, injuries, or collateral damage,’ a statement said.”
Qué bueno que el presidente Trump y su esposa se encuentren bien, tras los recientes acontecimientos. Le enviamos nuestro respeto. La violencia no debe ser nunca el camino.
— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) April 26, 2026
Here’s a photo from the iNaturalistMX website of the Iguana Verde (Iguana iguana), known in English as the Green Iguana, which is not always green. It’s often simply called an iguana. But this one has some green:
The Teotihuacan complex northeast of Mexico City is a spectacular archaeological site which I have visited thrice.
The Mesoamerican city was at its height in the first half of the first millenium A.D., long predating the arrival of the Aztecs to the area.
The sprawling Teotihuacan ruins are a major tourist destination in Mexico.
Its two largest structures are the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon.
Pyramid of the Moon (top), Pyramid of the Sun (lower left). Source: Cool Places, Youtube
On April 20th, 2026, the Pyramid of the Moon was the site of a shooting in which a gunman took hostages and shot several of them, killing one. After being shot at by authorities, the gunman shot himself and died.
A Canadian woman was shot and killed by the gunman. Others were wounded, either by being shot or falling. Thirteen foreign tourists were taken to the hospital: 6 Americans, 3 Colombians, 2 Brazilians, 1 Russian and 1 Canadian. Their ages ranged from 6 to 61.
Were foreigners being targeted? Not necessarily, as Teotihuacan is a tourist site visited by many foreigners.
The gunman was Julio Cesar Jasso Ramirez, a 27-year old Mexican of Mexico City.
What was/were Jasso’s motive/motives ? What is known thus far?
Jasso was obsessed with school shootings,and apparently was a Hitler fan. (Being a Hitler fan is not unknown in Mexico).
Note the day of the shooting – April 20th. The 20th of April is both the anniversary of the school shooting in Colombine, Colorado in 1999 and the birthday of Adolph Hitler in 1889.
Jasso had an AI image of himself with Columbine school shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.
AI Image of Jasso (right) with Columbine shooters. Source: The Sun
Jasso seemed to link his crime to the Mesoamerican tradition of human sacrifice, yelling “Don’t move or I’ll sacrifice you” and ranting “This was built for sacrifices…Not for visiting and taking a f–king, s—ty photo.”
In some notes Jasso had written he claimed to was inspired from beyond Earth.
Probably the disturbed gunman was driven by several motives.
Jasso carried out the shootings with a handgun. While Mexico has some strict gun laws, any Mexican who wants to acquire a firearm seems to be able to do so.
Here is a graphic from Milenio about the attack:
Diagram of central part of Teotihuacan, Pyramid of the Moon, State of Mexico, the attacker. From Milenio
The recent deaths of two Mexican officials and two American officials raise questions for President Sheinbaum about U.S. activity in Mexico.
From the Associated Press: “Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday [April 20th] she would demand explanations over what U.S. and Mexican officials were doing in northern Chihuahua when they died in an accident over the weekend, noting that any joint collaborations between the local government and the U.S. without federal permission would be a violation of Mexican law.”
The article says “northern Chihuahua” but for reasons I explain later that’s an error, it should be “southern Chihuahua”.
“The crash, following an operation to destroy a clandestine drug lab in a rural area, has reignited a debate over the extent of U.S. involvement in Mexican security operations. Speculation was only fueled by Sheinbaum, local officials and the U.S. Embassy appearing to contradict each other and at times themselves, and offering sparse details about the U.S. officials who died.”
“ ‘It was not an operation that the security cabinet was aware of,’ Sheinbaum told journalists. ‘We were not informed; it was a decision by the Chihuahua government.’ ”
“It comes at a key moment for the relationship between the two neighboring nations as Mexico faces escalating pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump crack down on cartels and Sheinbaum underscores Mexico’s sovereignty.”
“Sheinbaum said her government would investigate the incident to ensure no laws were broke [sic, should be ‘broken’] after the deaths on Sunday [April 19th], adding that state governments must have authorization from Mexico’s federal government to collaborate with U.S. and other foreign entities ‘as established by the Constitution.’ ”
How did these deaths occurr?
“Chihuahua Attorney General César Jáuregui said Sunday [April 19th] the officials died while returning from the operation to destroy labs of criminal groups. They were driving in the middle of the night through rugged mountain territory connecting Chihuahua to the state of Sinaloa, when the truck ‘appears to have skidded at some point and fell into a ravine, exploding.’ ”
“He said the four who died were two local Mexican investigative officials and two U.S. Embassy instructors who were participating in routine ‘training work.’ ”
“The U.S. Embassy on Monday [April 20th] declined to identify who the U.S. officials were or which entity of the U.S. government they worked for, but said the officials were ‘supporting Chihuahua state authorities’ efforts to combat cartel operations.’ U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson expressed his condolences on social media but he and other officials provided few details of the incident.”
“Jáuregui said that the operation came following months of investigation by state prosecutors and Mexico’s federal military, indicating there was at least some level of involvement in the operation from Sheinbaum’s security forces. Hours later, the Mexican Security Cabinet confirmed that the army and state prosecutor’s office carried out a joint operation over the weekend in Chihuahua dismantling drug labs in the same location, Morelos.”
The first paragraph said the operation was in northern Chihuahua, but Morelos is located in southern Chihuahua in the region bordering Sinaloa. Northern Chihuahua doesn’t border Sinaloa. So that first paragraph should say “southern Chihuahua”.
“After locating the labs using drones, officials found tons of material to manufacture drugs but no people, who were likely alerted beforehand and fled, the prosecutor added.”
“The local official later backtracked and clarified to press that there ‘were no U.S. agents in the operation to secure the narco-lab,’ and said the embassy officials joined the group after the operation and were several hours away from where the action took place.”
President Sheinbaum had more to say.
“Sheinbaum said her government would provide more information when it has more details, but insisted Monday [April 20th] that ‘there are no joint operations on land or in the air’ in Mexico. She said there is only sharing of information between her government and the U.S., carried out within a ‘well-established’ legal framework.”
“While U.S. officials’ training of Mexican security forces is common, their presence on Mexican territory has been the subject of ongoing debate, which has intensified after Trump’s military actions in Venezuela and Iran.”
“Trump has repeatedly offered to take action on Mexican cartels, intervention which Sheinbaum has said was ‘unnecessary.’ The Trump administration has already launched joint military operations in Ecuador, a country that has been roiled by violence by drug gangs in recent years.”
“Last year, Sheinbaum said the U.S. had conducted surveillance drone flights at Mexico’s request after a series of conflicting public statements on the issue, also sparking alarm among observers.”
“The most recent controversy surfaced in January over the detention in Mexico of former Canadian athlete Ryan Wedding, one of the United States’ most wanted fugitives. While Mexican officials claim he surrendered at the U.S. Embassy, U.S. authorities have described his capture as the result of a binational operation.”
The Mexican Foreign Secretary, or Foreign Minister, equivalent to U.S. Secretary of State, is commonly referred to as Canciller (Chancellor).
Until this month, the Mexican Foreign Minister was Juan Ramon de la Fuente. Due to health reasons, De La Fuente stepped down. On April 1st, 2026, President Claudia Sheinbaum nominated his replacement, Roberto Velasco Alvarez, who was ratified by the Senate on April 8th.
Roberto Velasco is 38 years old, born in 1987 in Mexico City. Velasco earned his law degree at the UNAM, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (National Autonomous University of Mexico).
After that, Velasco earned his MPP (Master of Public Policy) at the University of Chicago. While studying in Chicago, Velasco was editor-in-chief of the Chicago Policy Review.
Since 2020, Velasco has coordinated North America policy at the SRE. Velasco is also the first openly homosexual Mexican cabinet minister.
On April 8th, Velasco was officially ratified by the Mexican Senate, with 81 votes in favor and 31 against.
On April 9th Velasco delivered an address to the SRE department.
Canciller Velasco said that “Foreign Policy is, in its essence, the external expression of a national project. Our task is not limited in representation, we must transform. To translate diplomacy into prosperity for the people of Mexico, in effective protection for those who are far from home, and in tangible opportunities for the development of our country.” [my translation]
Here are photos of Velasco speaking and of his audience at the SRE:
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