{"text":[[{"start":6.4,"text":"US prosecutors charged a Mexican state governor with drug trafficking offences, according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday, in a dramatic escalation of American officials’ campaign against cartels."}],[{"start":18.700000000000003,"text":"Rubén Rocha Moya, governor of the northern state of Sinaloa, and nine current and former senior police and government officials, were accused of protecting Sinaloa Cartel members in exchange for millions of dollars in bribes, according to the indictment in the Southern District of New York."}],[{"start":35.900000000000006,"text":"The indictment alleged the governor, a member of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s party, had allowed the Chapitos faction of the cartel “to operate with impunity” and install corrupt officials in positions of power. The Chapitos are run by the sons of its notorious jailed former leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán."}],[{"start":54.60000000000001,"text":"Mexico’s foreign ministry said extradition requests had been received on Tuesday and were being analysed by the Attorney General’s Office."}],[{"start":63.55000000000001,"text":"Rocha wrote on social media platform X that he “categorically and absolutely” rejected the allegations and that “they lack all truth and foundation. I will demonstrate that . . . at the right time”."}],[{"start":75.00000000000001,"text":"The formal charges lodged against Rocha include narcotics importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices as well as conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices."}],[{"start":87.00000000000001,"text":"Drug Enforcement Administration chief Terrance Cole said those indicted “allegedly used positions of trust to protect cartel operations enabling a pipeline of deadly drugs into our country”."}],[{"start":99.20000000000002,"text":"He added: “No one is above the law.”"}],[{"start":102.15000000000002,"text":"The US had designated the Sinaloa Cartel a terrorist organisation last year."}],[{"start":106.85000000000002,"text":"The others indicted alongside Rocha include a senator from Sheinbaum’s ruling Morena party, former senior police and Sinaloa security officials and a serving mayor."}],[{"start":116.55000000000003,"text":"Rocha said the charges attacked Mexico’s “fourth transformation”, launched by Sheinbaum’s predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which sought to eradicate corruption and champion social justice. He added that it constituted “a perverse strategy” to defy the country’s national sovereignty."}],[{"start":133.25000000000003,"text":"There was no immediate reaction from Sheinbaum, but the indictment is “a tremendously delicate and complicated political situation for her,” said Vanda Felbab-Brown, director of the Brookings Institution’s Initiative on Non-state Armed Actors."}],[{"start":148.05000000000004,"text":"Felbab-Brown noted that Rocha has strong links to López Obrador who remains hugely influential within the Morena party."}],[{"start":155.85000000000005,"text":"US President Donald Trump has piled pressure on Sheinbaum’s government, repeatedly urging her to accept Washington’s intervention against the cartels."}],[{"start":165.15000000000006,"text":"Sheinbaum has refused, but the indictment comes days after two CIA agents were killed in a car accident in the northern state of Chihuahua in murky circumstances. The Mexican government has said they were not authorised to operate in the country and it was not aware of foreign participation in a state operation to destroy clandestine drug labs."}],[{"start":185.70000000000007,"text":"Sheinbaum has sent 10,000 National Guards to the border, handed over almost 100 alleged cartel figures to Washington and trumpeted a fall in fentanyl seizures as she seeks to placate Trump without upsetting her leftwing movement."}],[{"start":199.80000000000007,"text":"“Washington had been putting strong pressure on the Sheinbaum administration to act against top-level officials who have been accused of corruption and close links to criminal groups,” Felbab-Brown said."}],[{"start":210.65000000000006,"text":"“The big question is how will she act? Will she choose to pick a fight over the indictment . . . will she force Rocha out of office or will she move to arrest him and extradite him to the US?”"}],[{"start":230.00000000000006,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1777527287_1948.mp3"}