How extradition of alleged “narco-governor” would work
The US indictment against Mexican politicians is a jurisdictional nightmare.
The Big News Breakdown. Unpacking this week’s most important news.
Speculation is at a high as the governor of Sinaloa Ruben Rocha Moya, along with the mayor of its capital and a federal senator from the northwestern state, were issued indictments by the US. In total, 10 current and former Mexican officials have been charged with drug trafficking and weapons offenses in league with the Sinaloa cartel.
In a rush to fill up newspapers with content, analysts in Mexico have overthought the political machinations in the US concerning this case. Some predict that Trump is behind the indictment; a step in his plan to “do a Maduro” on Mexican soil. Others say it is a ploy to get the Mexican government to bend the knee lest it justify an excuse for direct US intervention against cartels.
Though one mustn’t discard even the most outlandish options with the Trump administration, in all likelihood the truth is that the Southern District Court of New York has most likely been working on this case since the Biden administration whisked one of the main bosses of the Sinaloa cartel into US custody. It is well known that this kingpin, along with prominent criminal leaders such as El Chapo, have been feeding information to investigators.
Despite the Mexican government’s rejection of the indictment on the ground that it doesn’t present enough evidence against ruling Morena party-affiliated politicians, it is likely that the case is tight enough to warrant going after such high profile foreign figures.
The slow bureaucratic gears of US justice have finally churned out a decisive conclusion. The ball is now in the court of Mexico’s even slower judicial machinery. The possible outcomes depend on a few convoluted but limited paths:
