Sinloa Governor Rubén Rocha. Photo: Google

By KELIN DILLON

According to a new letter released by the legal representation of Sinaloa Cartel crime boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, the notorious drug lord – who is currently in U.S. custody – purportedly received official protection in Mexico from the Attorney General Office of Sinaloa’s Investigative Police Commander, José Rosario Heras López.

Heras López, who is now reportedly missing, was allegedly present when Zambada was abducted to the United States by fellow Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin Guzman Lopez on July 25.

“I was accompanied by four members of the security personnel, of which two stayed outside the perimeter,” read Zambada’s statement. “The two who entered with me were José Rosario Heras López, commander of the Judicial Police of the State of Sinaloa, and Rodolfo Chaidez, a member of my security team for a long time.”

In the same letter, the Sinaloa crime lord claimed he had a meeting with Sinloa Governor Rubén Rocha set for the same day Guzman Lopez kidnapped him – an allegation Rocha’s fellow National Regeneration Movement (Morena) members have vehemently denied.

“The situation has already been clarified in a timely manner by the state leader,” a group of Morena governors said in a group statement. “We categorically reject the false accusations allegedly made by Mr. Ismael Zambada.”

Rocha himself spoke out against El Mayo’s claims, saying that “if they said that I was going to be at the meeting, then they lied, and if you believed them, then you fell right into the trap.” 

For his part, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) also pushed against the claims against the Sinaloa governor during his daily morning press conference on Aug. 12 and affirmed that Rocha had asked for an additional investigation into the incident by Mexico’s Attorney General of the Republic (FGR).

AMLO also acknowledged Zambada’s comments about Heras López during the time, saying that he was unaware of the official’s participation with the Sinaloa Cartel and that the newly released information is “very bad.”

“We didn’t know about his involvement,” said the federal executive. “The collusion is very bad, but first we have to try to find Heras López, because he is missing. That’s the first thing, and then we have to do the investigation, when he started working at the Sinaloa Attorney General’s Office, how long has he been there, who commissioned him. All the investigation that is required.”