Pressure on former Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya is mounting after an alleged member of the Sinaloa Cartel said the organization helped him win the state's 2021 gubernatorial election.
Speaking to German broadcaster DW, the alleged cartel member described how the Sinaloa Cartel, which had not yet fractured into its current factions, helped secure Rocha Moya's victory.
The man, who said he remains an active member of the criminal organization, described a campaign of intimidation and election interference, including stealing ballot boxes and threatening voters.
"They steal the ballot boxes, tell people to vote for so-and-so or say it will be the last thing they do in their lives," the alleged sicario said in the DW documentary Mexico Under Cartel Control: The Shadow Power in Sinaloa, published Aug. 4.
Asked whether Rocha Moya could have won the governorship without the support of Los Chapitos, the man said it was impossible, arguing that cartel leaders "move the chess pieces" across Sinaloa.
The alleged cartel member said he was recruited as a teenager and has been involved in kidnappings, killings, extortion and settling debts for the organization. He said refusing to follow orders could result in his death.
The allegations come months after the U.S. government indicted Rocha Moya and nine current and former Mexican officials, accusing the governor of receiving support from Los Chapitos to win the 2021 election. Prosecutors allege that, once in office, Rocha Moya allowed violence to continue while protecting cartel leaders and their drug-trafficking operations.
The indictment also alleges that corruption extended to local law enforcement agencies, including the Sinaloa State Police, the state attorney general's investigative police and the Culiacán municipal police. Prosecutors accuse the agencies of protecting drug-trafficking operations in exchange for millions of dollars in bribes.
Since the indictment was unsealed, Rocha Moya was forced to leave his post as Sinaloa governor and remains out of the public eye. In June, journalist Raymundo Riva Palacio wrote in his Estrictamente Personal column that Rocha Moya was hiding at a ranch about 70 miles north of Culiacán, where he reportedly relocated almost immediately after U.S. authorities unsealed the indictment against him.
Allegations of irregularities surrounding Sinaloa's 2021 election, however, long predate the U.S. indictment. Opposition candidates, local journalists and civic organizations have for years raised concerns about violence and intimidation during the campaign and election.
Rocha Moya, the joint candidate of Morena and the Sinaloa Party, won 56.60% of the vote, compared with 32.49% for Mario Zamora Gastélum, the candidate of the PAN-PRI-PRD coalition.
Following the election, opposition parties called for the results to be annulled, arguing that violence had prevented voters from casting ballots freely and affected the outcome.
In the days leading up to the June 6, 2021, election and on Election Day itself, authorities and political parties reported kidnappings of campaign workers, threats against candidates, stolen ballot boxes and polling stations that were closed because of the presence of armed groups, Animal Político reported.
During the DW interview, the alleged cartel member reiterated his claim that criminal organizations exert significant influence over Sinaloa's government.
"I have seen it with my own eyes. It is the cartels that pull the strings in government," he said.
