MEXICO CITY, April 30 (Reuters) – Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday that if the U.S. government presents sufficient evidence against Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha and others charged in the U.S. for ties to drug trafficking, the Mexican prosecutor’s office will proceed according to the law.
But, she added, if there is not enough proof then the charges from the U.S. Department of Justice appear political in nature. She also said that under no terms would Mexico permit interference of a foreign government in its sovereign affairs.
The Justice Department on Wednesday charged Rocha and others for conspiring with the Sinaloa Cartel to import massive quantities of narcotics into the U.S. in exchange for political support and bribes.
The charges against Rocha mark a new front in the U.S. fight against cartels. While the U.S. has repeatedly gone after drug kingpins, U.S. indictments against sitting senior Mexican politicians are rare.
“We are not going to protect anyone who has committed a crime,” Sheinbaum said at her regular morning press conference. “However, if there isn’t clear evidence, it is obvious that the objective of these indictments by the Department of Justice is political.”
(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez and Raul Cortez; Editing by Emily Green)
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