Things are happening rather quickly in the storyline of Sinaloa political leadership and the indictments by U.S. Dept of Justice officials.
In the latest development, following the Tucson, Arizona, capture of Gerardo Mérida, a retired Mexican army general who served as public-security secretary in northwestern Sinaloa state, today Sinaloa Senator Enrique Inzunza Cazárez, who is also facing drug trafficking and weapon charges, was taken into custody in San Diego by the DEA.
Both Merida and Cazarez were named in the lengthy indictment that included current Sinaloa Governor Rocha Moya, who, if ground reports are accurate, appears to be hiding while protected by the Mexican national guard.
Here’s where it gets really interesting. According to the New York Post reporting, businessman Enrique Diaz Vega – another name from the indictment – also turned himself into U.S. authorities in Arizona last Friday. That means four of the ten men named are currently in custody, with Governor Rocha Moya hiding out in Mexico.
However, it gets even more interesting when highlighted with this section:
… “Inzunza Cázares’ lawyers reportedly held talks with the Department of Justice for his voluntary surrender and to become a government witness, Mexican newspaper El Universal reported May 2.”… {link} “A drug trafficker who surrenders and offers information primarily falls under the category of a cooperating witness,” a Department of Justice source told the outlet.
However, Inzunza Cázares shut down the report the same day. “Utterly false,” he wrote on X.
So, three days after the primary indictment was announced, Inzunza Cazares is reported to be working with the DEA and DOJ. He denies cooperation while in Mexico, and then two weeks later turns himself in to the DEA in San Diego.
It sounds like each of the men turning themselves in to U.S. authorities were facing a rather dangerous Hobson’s choice.
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