Rubén Rocha Moya, the governor of the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa, announced on Saturday that he was stepping back from his duties for a second time — just one day after making a surprise and widely condemned return to office. The 77-year-old posted a document on X requesting that the state legislature grant him an "indefinite temporary leave of absence of more than 30 days." The Sinaloa congress had not yet announced when it would convene an extraordinary session to consider the request and appoint a new interim governor.

Rocha Moya, a member of the ruling left-wing Morena party, had first stepped aside on 1 May 2026 after prosecutors in New York sought his arrest and extradition. His unexpected reappearance at government headquarters on Friday — where he declared he was returning "with a clear conscience and head held high" — drew immediate and sharp criticism from Mexican political figures across the board, who described the move as "unheard of, unacceptable and deeply cynical." Mexico's interior ministry was quick to distance the federal government from the decision, noting it was "exclusively a personal choice."

President Claudia Sheinbaum, though she did not name Rocha Moya directly, issued a pointed rebuke on X, writing that "under no circumstances can personal interest be placed above the interests of the people," and adding that "power without principles becomes arrogance; power without limits becomes abuse." When pressed by journalists, she said she had learned of his return "through his post." Her position was swiftly backed by fellow Morena governors, who reaffirmed their unity around her leadership and called for respect for institutions and the movement's principles.

The case has rattled Mexico at both a domestic and an international level. The US Department of Justice has indicted Rocha Moya and nine other current or former Mexican officials — all from Morena — on charges of conspiring with the Sinaloa cartel to distribute large quantities of narcotics in the United States. Prosecutors also allege that the cartel's so-called "Chapitos" faction helped finance his 2021 gubernatorial campaign. The Sinaloa cartel, co-founded by the imprisoned kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, is among six Mexican criminal organisations designated as foreign terrorist organisations by US President Donald Trump. The charges against a sitting Mexican official marked the first time Washington had publicly indicted an active officeholder, raising the diplomatic stakes considerably.

The affair adds pressure to an already tense relationship between Mexico City and Washington over drug trafficking and the fentanyl crisis, which has claimed tens of thousands of American lives in recent years. Trump has repeatedly demanded that Mexico intensify its crackdown on cartels, and has threatened tariffs as leverage. President Sheinbaum has resisted offers of direct US military involvement while insisting on Mexican sovereignty — a balancing act made harder by cases like Rocha Moya's, which fuel American claims that Mexican politics is deeply entangled with organised crime. Rocha Moya denies all charges against him.