Ruben Rocha, the governor of Mexico's Sinaloa state, announced his resignation late Friday, days after the US charged him and other ruling-party officials with alleged links to the Sinaloa Cartel.
Rocha, a member of the ruling Morena party, vehemently denied the allegations, calling them false and ill-intended, but agreed to temporarily step aside from his role.
“I can look at my people and my family in the eye because I have not betrayed them and I will never betray them, and I will demonstrate that firmly at the moment when the institutions of justice of our country require it,” he said.
The US Department of Justice accused Rocha and other Morena officials of conspiring with leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel to import massive quantities of narcotics into the US in exchange for political support and bribes. The move has put Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum in a difficult political position.
The US Department of Justice, the US Embassy in Mexico City and the Sinaloa state government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
