(The Center Square) – Federal prosecutors on Wednesday unsealed charges against the sitting governor of Mexico's Sinaloa state and nine other current and former officials, alleging they took millions of dollars in cartel bribes in exchange for helping flood the United States with fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.

The indictment, filed in the Southern District of New York, names Ruben Rocha Moya, 76, the governor of Sinaloa, as the most prominent of the defendants. Prosecutors allege the Sinaloa Cartel's so-called Chapitos faction – the sons of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman – helped rig the 2021 gubernatorial election that put Rocha Moya in office, including by ordering cartel members to steal ballots and kidnap opposition candidates. In exchange, the indictment alleges, Rocha Moya handed the Chapitos effective control over state and local law enforcement.

Originally published on thecentersquare.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.

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