Mexico City (AFP) – The governor of Mexico's violence-plagued Sinaloa state, who is wanted by the United States on drug trafficking charges announced Friday he had resumed office after a nearly four-month absence to fight the allegations.

In a long post on X, Ruben Rocha Moya, an ally of leftist President Claudia Sheinbaum, insisted he had "committed no crime" and was returning to office "with a clear conscience and head held high."

The US Justice Department charged him and nine other ruling party officials in April for colluding with the infamous Sinaloa Cartel to distribute drugs inside the United States and demanded their extraditions.

It was the first time the US had publicly charged a sitting Mexican politician and caused tensions with Sheinbaum.

She requested the US provide "irrefutable" evidence before handing over Rocha, who is very close to her mentor, former president Andrew Manuel Lopez Obrador.

But on Friday she appeared to wash her hands of his return, with her government saying it was a "personal choice" By Rocha that she had not sanctioned.

The 77-year-old governor stepped aside on May 1 after the US indictment.

His surprise return to one of the most prominent offices in the land on Friday set the stage for a potential standoff between Mexico City and Washington over his fate.

The brutal Sinaloa Cartel, which was co-founded by jailed drug baron Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, is one of six Mexican drug gangs that US President Donald Trump has designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

...