Ex-Sinaloa Security Chief Appears in U.S. Court on Cartel Bribery Charges

NEW YORK -- The former secretary of public security for Mexico’s Sinaloa state appeared in a U.S. court on Friday, days after his arrest in Arizona on charges he and other officials took bribes to help the Sinaloa Cartel smuggle vast quantities of drugs into the U.S.

Gerardo Mérida Sánchez, 66, was not required to enter a plea during his initial appearance in federal court in Manhattan. He was ordered jailed but could request bail at a later date. He is due back in court on June 1. A message seeking comment was left for his lawyer.

Mérida Sánchez is one of 10 current or former Sinaloa government or law enforcement officials charged by the U.S. last month and the first to appear in court. He is charged with narcotics importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices and faces 40 years to life in prison if convicted.

Other defendants include Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya and Mayor Juan de Dios Gámez Mendívil of the Sinaloa state capital of Culiacán, both of whom said they were taking temporary leaves of absence to deal with the charges. They have yet to be apprehended.

Mexico’s Security Cabinet stated on social media that Mérida Sánchez entered the U.S. from Hermosillo, Sonora, on Monday, and was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service at the Nogales border crossing into Arizona. He appeared in court in Arizona before being moved to New York, court records show.

Mérida Sánchez was Secretary of Public Security, an appointed cabinet-level position in Moya's Sinaloa government, from September 2023 until his resignation in December 2024. He was responsible for overseeing the Sinaloa State Police and appointing its director.

Mérida Sánchez is accused of taking at least $100,000 in monthly cash bribes from “Los Chapitos,” a Sinaloa Cartel faction run by the sons of incarcerated ex-cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, in exchange for arresting rivals and providing information about ongoing investigations and planned drug raids.

In 2023 alone, Mérida Sánchez warned the Chapitos about at least 10 upcoming raids on labs and safe houses where they stored drugs, weapons, and money, allowing them to remove personnel and evidence of criminal activity before they happened, according to an indictment unsealed last month.

Some of the indicted officials are members of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum ’s progressive Morena party.

After the indictment was announced, Sheinbaum said she wouldn’t defend anyone found to have committed a crime but argued that, if authorities uncovered “irrefutable” evidence linking the officials to cartel crime, they should be tried in Mexico, not the U.S.

“We will never subordinate ourselves because this is a matter of the dignity of the Mexican people,” she said, risking backlash from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened military action against cartels on Mexican soil.

Mexico’s Foreign Ministry and Security Cabinet have been maintaining institutional communication with U.S. authorities within the framework of international cooperation mechanisms.

“El Chapo” was convicted in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison.

Another Sinaloa kingpin, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, pleaded guilty last year to U.S. drug trafficking charges and apologized for helping flood the country with cocaine, heroin and other illicit substances and for fueling deadly violence in Mexico. He is scheduled to be sentenced in July to life in prison.

Under Zambada and Guzmán’s leadership, prosecutors say, the Sinaloa cartel evolved from a regional player into the largest drug trafficking organization in the world.

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Associated Press writer Fabiola Sanchez in Mexico City contributed to this report.