New York — The former public security secretary of the Mexican state of Sinaloa appeared in a US court on Friday, days after he was arrested in Arizona on charges that he and other officials received bribes to help the Sinaloa cartel smuggle large quantities of drugs into the United States.
Gerardo Merida Sanchez, 66, was not asked to enter a plea during his first appearance in federal court in Manhattan. He was ordered to be imprisoned but he may apply for bail at a later date. He is scheduled to appear again in court on June 1. A message seeking comment was left for his attorney.
Merida Sanchez is one of 10 current or former Sinaloa government or law enforcement officials indicted by the United States last month and the first to appear in court. He is accused of conspiracy to import drugs, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices, and faces a 40-year prison sentence if convicted.
Other defendants include Governor Rubén Rocha Moya and the mayor of Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state, Juan de Dios Gámez Mendivil, both of whom said they were taking temporary leave to deal with the accusations. They have not been arrested yet.
Merida Sanchez entered the United States from Hermosillo, Sonora, on Monday, and was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service at the Nogales border crossing with Arizona, the Mexican Security Cabinet said on social media. Court records show he appeared in court in Arizona before being transferred to New York.
Merida Sánchez was Minister of Public Security, a cabinet-level appointment in Moya Sinaloa’s government, from September 2023 until his resignation in December 2024. He was responsible for supervising the Sinaloa State Police and appointing its director.
Merida Sanchez is accused of receiving at least $100,000 in monthly cash bribes from Los Chapitos, a Sinaloa Cartel faction run by the sons of the imprisoned former cartel leader. Joaquin “El Chapo” GuzmanIn exchange for arresting rivals and providing information about ongoing investigations and planned drug raids.
In 2023 alone, Merida Sanchez warned the Chapito family of at least 10 upcoming raids on labs and safe houses where they stored drugs, weapons and money, allowing them to remove employees and evidence of criminal activity before it occurred, according to an indictment unsealed last month.
Some of the accused officials are members of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Morena Progressive Party.
After the indictment was announced, Sheinbaum said she would not defend anyone found to have committed a crime, but said that if authorities uncovered “irrefutable” evidence linking officials to cartel crimes, they should be tried in Mexico, not the United States.
“We will never submit ourselves because this is a matter of the dignity of the Mexican people,” she said, threatening a backlash from US President Donald Trump, who has… He threatened military action Against gangs on Mexican soil.
The Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Mexican Security Council maintain institutional contacts with the US authorities within the framework of international cooperation mechanisms.
“El Chapo” was convicted in 2019 and convicted To life in prison.
Another Sinaloa leader, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, He pleaded guilty last year to US drug trafficking charges and apologized for helping to 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 imprisonment.
Under Zambada and Guzman’s leadership, the Sinaloa cartel evolved from a regional player into the world’s largest drug trafficking organization, prosecutors say.
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Associated Press writer Fabiola Sanchez in Mexico City contributed to this report.