Mexico prosecutors’ bombshell claim of alleged murder cover-up backs up story of cartel boss arrested in US

Police, prosecutors and forensics in the north Mexico State of Sinaloa all conspired to cover up the killing of a ruling party state gubernatorial opponent, using a bloodstained truck found at the crime scene, federal prosecutors said Sunday.

Federal prosecutors’ bombshell statement supports jailed drug lord’s version Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. Zambada claims he was forced onto a plane on July 25 by another drug kingpin who flew them both to the United States and handed them over to US authorities.

Zambada said in a letter in August that Héctor Cuén, opponent of Governor Ruben Rocha, was killed on July 25 at the same time and in the same ranch where Zambada was kidnapped. Federal prosecutors revealed on Sunday that Cuén’s blood was indeed found at the ranch.

Gov. Rocha has not publicly responded to prosecutors’ statement Sunday, but has said in the past that Cuén was killed by gunmen in a random robbery at a gas station miles away later that day, and the Prosecutors in the state of Sinaloa showed security camera footage of the alleged attack.

But federal prosecutors quickly noticed something was wrong with that video: Post-mortem records showed Cuén’s body had four gunshot wounds, while only one gunshot can be heard on security camera footage, and the gas station clerks said they hadn’t heard of any.

Cuén’s bullet-riddled body couldn’t help but solve the puzzle, because Sinaloa officials violated all murder investigation rules by allowing the body to be cremated almost immediately.

The footage of the gas station was later proven to be a fake, but something about the white pickup truck seen in the footage was real: it had the blood of one of Zambada’s trusted bodyguards in the cargo box.

This involved Sinaloa state police, crime scene investigators and prosecutors finding the bodyguard’s body in the truck and disposing of the body, or at least taking the bloodstained vehicle from crime scene to simulate a gas station robbery at gunpoint. .

“All of the above confirms the police and prosecutorial investigation that has confirmed the alleged administrative and criminal responsibilities of the Sinaloa police, detectives, forensics and state prosecutors who have been thoroughly investigated for their participation in the death of Héctor (Cuén)”, the federal. the Attorney General said in a statement on Sunday.

The news seems to further complicate the position of Governor Rocha, who belongs to the president The ruling Morena party of Claudia Sheinbaum. Sheinbaum has strongly supported Rocha thus far. But Rocha has done little or nothing to quell the bloody fight that erupted between rival factions of the two Sinaloa drug cartel kingpins that erupted after July 25.

Instead, Rocha has tried to downplay the shootings, killings, kidnappings and cartel blockades that have sprung up around the state capital, Culiacan. On Thursday, hours before gunmen opened fire on the offices of a local newspaper, Governor Rocha said there was “nothing to worry about” and that “everything is under control”.

Rocha – a close associate of the former president Andrés Manuel López Obradorwho left office on September 30 – has been involved in the events of July 25 from the beginning, although he denies it.

Zambada said it Joaquín Guzmán López – a leader of a rival faction of cartels whom he nevertheless trusted – had invited him to the meeting to help resolve the fierce political rivalry between Governor Rocha and Cuén, who were at odds.

Zambada was famous for evading capture for decades due to his incredibly tight, loyal and sophisticated personal security apparatus. But he said that on July 25 he left most of his security team behind and entered with only two bodyguards because he expected both Cuén and Governor Rocha to be present.

The two bodyguards have not been heard from since.

The fact that Zambada left behind all his security to meet with the politicians suggests that he considered this meeting credible and feasible. The same goes for the idea that Zambada, as the leader of the oldest wing of the Sinaloa cartel, could act as an arbiter in the state’s political disputes.

Rocha has denied knowing about or attending the meeting where Zambada was kidnapped, claiming he had borrowed a businessman’s private jet to fly to California that day. But even though a flight log exists for that plane, Rocha has never produced the immigration documents he would have presented to enter the United States, raising doubts that he was on the plane.

Zambada pleaded not guilty last month in a US drug-trafficking case that accuses him of participating in assassination plots and ordering torture.

Zambada’s perceived betrayal has led to fierce fights between his followersknown as “Mayitos”, and the followers of Guzmán López, who – as one of the sons of the imprisoned drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Gúzman – was co-leader of the faction known as the “Chapitos”.

According to an indictment released by the U.S. Department of Justice last year, the “Chapitos” and their cartel partners used corkscrews, electrocution and hot chili peppers to they torture their rivals while some of his victims were “fed dead or alive to the tigers.” Chapo’s children were among 28 indicted members of the Sinaloa cartel in a massive fentanyl trafficking investigation announced in April 2023.

El Chapo is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison in Colorado after being there convicted in 2019 on charges including drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons-related offences.