Mexico City, Mexico - Embattled Mexican politician Rubén Rocha Moya, who until May served as governor of the state of Sinaloa, denied on Thursday that he's been in hiding after getting indicted by the US on drug trafficking charges.
The Department of Justice in April announced charges against Rocha Moya and nine others, alleging collusion with the infamous Sinaloa Cartel to distribute drugs inside the US. It's the first time the US has publicly charged a sitting Mexican politician.
"I have remained, without moving, in my home in the city of Culiacán," he wrote in a statement on X released Thursday. "I am neither protected nor guarded by members of any federal law enforcement agency."
"I have been the target of an atrocious media onslaught of slander and baseless factual or legal accusations. The charges leveled against me by an office of the United States government are false," he wrote in a statement translated from Spanish.
In recent days, unconfirmed reports emerged that federal security forces had whisked him off to another location to evade capture in a potential US operation. No operation is confirmed to have been planned.
"Today it is clear that this is an attack promoted from the far right, with the intention of undermining national sovereignty and stigmatizing the most important transformation movement in favor of the poor on the continent," the former governor wrote.
The 77-year-old politician took a leave of absence from the governorship in May, but did not fully step down. As part of the left-leaning Morena Party, he was an ally of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Sheinbaum previously claimed Rocha Moya remained at home without federal security protection. She demanded the US provide "irrefutable" evidence before she acts on the extradition order and indictment.