Amid US drug charges, Mexican Governor Ruben Rocha requests office leave despite party tension

Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha, indicted by US federal prosecutors on drug-trafficking, bribery, and cartel-protection charges, has again requested a leave of absence from office. This request follows his defiant return to his post after more than three months on leave, a move that was met with disapproval from the Mexican government and the ruling Morena party. President Claudia Sheinbaum, without directly naming Rocha, stated on X/Twitter that "no personal interest can ever be above those of the people or the Nation." Rocha, 77, faces allegations from US prosecutors of conspiring with a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, Los Chapitos, to traffic drugs into the US in exchange for political support and bribes. While Sheinbaum's government previously stated Washington lacked sufficient evidence for his arrest, her administration has opened its own investigation into the matter.