Mexico Says Interpol Has Not Issued Red Notice for Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya

More than a month after the Department of Justice unveiled an indictment against Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya and nine current and former public officials over alleged ties to the Sinaloa cartel and its Los Chapitos faction, many questions surrounding the case remain unanswered.

At the time of the announcement, both the United States and Mexico said they would conduct separate investigations. While developments regarding Rocha Moya's future have been scarce, Ulises Lara López, spokesperson for Mexico's Attorney General's Office, recently said neither Rocha Moya nor the other officials named in the case are the subject of an Interpol Red Notice, despite being linked in the indictment to one of Mexico's most powerful drug trafficking organizations.

As noted by Interpol, a Red Notice is a request to law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action. However, it is not an international arrest warrant, and countries retain the authority to decide whether to act on the notice under their own laws.

In a video published May 28, Lara López said five of those accused have already appeared before authorities and that investigations remain ongoing to determine whether any crimes were committed. He also confirmed none of the individuals named in the case are the subject of an Interpol Red Notice yet.

Last week, Mexico's top security official, Omar García Harfuch, said authorities are only aware of an arrest warrant issued in the United States. Harfuch said he was unaware of any formal request for an Interpol Red Notice and outlined the process typically followed in such cases.

He explained that when an international notice is issued, Mexico's Foreign Relations Department is the first one to get involved, followed by the Attorney General's Office, which determines whether an arrest warrant for extradition purposes should be pursued.

He also emphasized that a Red Notice does not automatically result in an immediate arrest.

The federal government's comments came one day after Rocha Moya appeared before federal prosecutors in Culiacán, Sinaloa.

Rocha Moya said on social media that he answered questions from a federal prosecutor and reiterated his willingness to cooperate with the investigation.

The indictment, unveiled by the U.S. government on April 29, accuses Rocha Moya of receiving support from Los Chapitos to win the governorship and, once in office, allowed violence to continue unchecked while protecting cartel leaders and their drug trafficking operations.

Prosecutors say the alleged corruption extended to local law enforcement agencies, including the Sinaloa State Police, the state attorney general's investigative police and the Culiacán municipal police, which they accuse of protecting drug trafficking operations in exchange for millions of dollars in bribes.