Mexico will extradite officials to U.S. only if given "irrefutable evidence" of cartel links, president says

Source: CBS News/AFP

April 30, 2026 / 12:15 PM EDT


Mexico is seeking "irrefutable evidence" to back up U.S. drug trafficking charges against a state governor and other officials before proceeding with extradition requests, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday. The U.S. Justice Department unveiled charges on Wednesday against Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya and nine others, accusing them of working with the notorious Sinaloa cartel to distribute "massive quantities" of narcotics to the United States.

Rocha Moya, a member of the Sheinbaum's left-leaning Morena party and close ally of her predecessor, has governed the violent state since 2021. The other accused officials are also part of Morena.

"If the Office of the Attorney General... receives solid and irrefutable evidence in accordance with Mexican law, or if, in the course of its own investigation, it finds elements constituting a crime, it must comply" with the U.S. extradition request, Sheinbaum said at her morning news conference.

She added that if evidence was not provided or found, it will be evident that "the goal of these Justice Department accusations is political."

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mexico-wants-evidence-officials-cartel-links-claudia-sheinbaum/