In 2021, Rubén Rocha vehemently denied any connection to organized crime in Sinaloa. He had just won the gubernatorial election, but election day had been a disaster. Local media documented that several election workers — mostly from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), but also from Morena, his own party — had been kidnapped, beaten, and threatened by criminals. Some candidates withdrew from the race, and armed groups looted ballot boxes full of votes. Rocha, who emerged victorious amidst the chaos, said that he and Morena had been victims of the violence and claimed that the PRI, which had governed the state for years, had ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. Now, the United States indictment alleges that this criminal organization helped Rocha win the election in exchange for political protection.

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