In a brief video statement posted on  Friday, Ruben Rocha Moya again denied any wrongdoing, but said he was taking “temporary leave” to defend himself against the US allegations. The indictment unsealed by US prosecutors  this week claimed that Rocha Moya and nine other officials directly aided the Sinaloa drug cartel in its smuggling operations in exchange for political support and bribes.

That support included members of the powerful cartel kidnapping and threatening opposition candidates in the 2021 election and stealing paper ballots cast for those running against Rocha Moya, the indictment charged. Rocha Moya is a member of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s progressive Morena party. “My conscience is clear”, Rocha Moya said in the video message. “To my people and to my family, I can look you in the eye because I have never betrayed you, and I never will”.

Juan de Dios Gamez Mendivil, the mayor of the Sinaloa state capital Culiacan who was among the other officials charged by the US, also announced he would step down on Saturday. He has denied the allegations. Sheinbaum has also pushed back on charges, which come at a time when she has sought to navigate tense relations with the administration of US President Donald Trump.

On Thursday, she said her government had not been provided with any concrete evidence to back up the claims, suggesting the information laid out in the indictment was insufficient. “My position on these events is as follows: truth, justice and the defence of sovereignty”, Sheinbaum said. She added that if “clear and irrefutable evidence” is presented, the US still must proceed “in accordance with the law under our jurisdiction”.

Sheinbaum maintained her government will not “shield anyone who has committed a crime”. “However, if there is no clear evidence”, she added, “it is evident that the aim of these charges by the [US] Department of Justice is political”. (Aljazeera)