Photo by Faroosh Land via Pexels
On April 29, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted Ruben Rocha Moya, the sitting governor of Sinaloa, and assorted other current and former Mexican officials on drug trafficking charges. Stakes are high as Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum grapples with a plot that could become my next Detective Emilia Cruz thriller.
Please read on.
Damning charges
Rocha and others are alleged to have “partnered with the Sinaloa Cartel to distribute massive quantities of narcotics to the United States.” According to DEA Administrator Terrance Cole, “The defendants allegedly used positions of trust to protect cartel operations, enabling a pipeline of deadly drugs into our country.”
Here’s a quote from the indictment:
. . . the defendants have allegedly shielded Cartel leaders from investigation, arrest, and prosecution; caused sensitive law enforcement and military information to be provided to members of the Cartel and allied drug traffickers to assist the Cartel’s criminal activities; directed members of state and local law enforcement agencies, such as the Sinaloa State Police, the Investigative Police for the Sinaloa State Attorney General’s Office, and the Culiacan Municipal Police, to protect drug loads stored in and transiting through Mexico to the United States; and allowed brutal drug-related violence to be committed by members of the Cartel without consequence.
In exchange, the defendants have collectively received millions of dollars in drug money from the Cartel.
Squealers
El Chapo family tree courtesy Telemundo Chicago
El Chapo Guzman, the infamous kingpin synonymous with the Sinaloa Cartel, is serving a life sentence in prison in the US. His sons, who followed in dad’s organized crime footsteps, are collectively known as Los Chapitos.
Two of them, Ovidio “El Raton” Guzmán López and Joaquín “El Guero” Guzmán López, face prison time in the US and almost certainly are singing in hopes of lighter sentences.
Moreover, when Joaquín showed up in the US, he brought along Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, El Chapo’s former partner who has his own Rolodex of political payoffs.
Previously paid by Sinaloa . . .
Rocha and friends are hardly the first to face charges in the US.
Genaro García Luna, former Secretary of Public Security during the administration of Felipe Calderón (2006-2012), is serving a 38 year sentence in the US for enabling the Sinaloa cartel.
In return for literal bags of cash, he provided intelligence about investigations against the cartel, information about rival cartels and arranged for the safe passage of massive quantities of drugs.
Rocha RUMINT*
The US indictment validates long-standing rumors about Rocha. Before highly volatile elections in 2021, he reportedly met with Los Chapitos to enlist their help in winning. More rumors connect Rocha to the 2024 cartel murder of a businessman.
Based on what I see on Instagram and the comments sections of various blogs, Rocha’s corruption appears to be an open secret.
*CIA-speak for believable but unsubstantiated rumor
Mexican reaction
Rocha and Sheinbaum in happier times, courtesy sinaloa.gob.mx
Rocha has stepped down temporarily and is mounting a public defense relying on Mexico’s common refrain of [insert sticky problem here] is a threat to Mexico’s sovereignty.
Sheinbaum is on board with that approach, declaring “We are not a colony of the United States.”
Yet under pressure from the US to take action and under pressure from her own party to close ranks and protect Rocha, Sheinbaum announced an internal investigation into the charges.
Could it drag on for 2 years in hopes of outlasting the Trump administration?
Perfect crime fiction plot
If this was a Detective Emilia Cruz thriller, Emilia would team up with an overworked investigator in the Ministry of Public Security to unravel the clues linking AMLO, Sheinbaum, and Rocha to the Sinaloa cartel.
The cartel would get the investigator, leaving Emilia to carry on alone. Her survival would be in serious doubt for at least 140 pages leading to a big climax that brings down the government.
Sound good?
Comment with your title suggestions!
#excerpt
In DRAGON CARTEL, coming 16 June, Detective Emilia Cruz is held hostage by a short-tempered Chinese smuggler. He’s looking for a Customs agent who was supposed to make sure that cargo arriving from China ended up in cartel hands.
If you read BARRACUDA BAY, you’ll catch the reference to “oranges.”
~
“Where is Gregorio Lastra?” Yan asked again.
Emilia tilted her head up, trying to staunch the flow. She sucked in air through her mouth. The pain made it hard to think of a way to outwit the man.
“Yesterday you took him away,” Yan went on. “I was there. I saw you but you did not see me.”
“This is about the oranges, isn’t it?” The reference to Lennox was the only thing Emilia could come up with that might give Yan pause. “Lennox’s oranges. He paid off the port security officer to help you.”
“Everyone serves a purpose,” Yan said coolly. “Yours is to tell me where Gregorio Lastra is.”
Blood seeped from her nose, slid down her hand and stained the notebook in her lap. Emilia couldn’t maintain the fiction that she didn’t recognize Lastra’s name.
“You need him to release those shipping containers,” she said. “All your money must be tied up in stuff to make drugs.”
“Money.” The word seemed to amuse Yan. “You are a simple woman, only thinking in terms of what things cost. Your country can be bought and sold because of simple minds like yours.”
#reviewoftheweek
A big “thank you” to educator and writer Michael Hogan for his review of BARRACUDA BAY. Hogan is the author of award-winning non-fiction including the seminal ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND MEXICO. I’m humbled to have someone of his stature reference the book’s authenticity.
This is the 9th book in the Email Cruz series and, if you are a fan, it is certainly one of the most intricate and fast-paced . . . Unlike to so many books ostensibly set in Mexico with their misspelled words and fake background, Amato’s work bristles with authenticity. Her knowledge of the intricacies of police procedures, narcotics traffic, femicide, and US-Mexico relations also ring true, based Amato’s own experience in her former career as an intelligence officer.
#comingsoon
Mark your calendars for DRAGON CARTEL, coming 16 June!
Detective Emilia Cruz becomes an unwitting player in the US-China rivalry as she tracks a missing Customs agent and a fugitive killer into the treacherous waters of illicit global shipping.
Need to catch up with the Detective Emilia Cruz series?
Find the series booklist here or listen on Audible here.
That’s all for this edition. Thank you for spending this time with me.
Until next time, Carmen
PS: A percentage of book sales and affiliate links go to support veterans and first responder organizations. When you buy a book, invite me on a podcast or recommend this newsletter, you help me help others. Thank you.
MY BACKSTORY— I learned a few things about danger, deception and resilience during a 30-year career with the CIA focusing on counterdrug and technical collection. Now a mystery author, those lessons play out on the page, especially in the Detective Emilia Cruz police series set in Acapulco. Starting with Cliff Diver, the series is a back-to-back winner of the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America. I’ve also written historical and political thrillers, essays about the craft of crime fiction, and live with a very large white dog named Bear.
In case you missed earlier newsletters:
Title: Los Chapitos
What really bothers me is that the investigation might drag out two years to outlast a presidential administration when that shouldn’t be the standard. Another great article and newsletter, Carmen.