Mexico's President: No Evidence Pols Tied to Sinaloa Cartel

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday that investigators have found no links between sitting politicians and the Sinaloa drug cartel.

Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, a co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel who pleaded guilty Monday to U.S. drug trafficking charges, said he promoted corruption in Mexico by paying off "police, military commanders, and politicians," the Los Angeles Times reported.

"We don't have at this time any proof against any public servant, or member of the army [or] navy," Sheinbaum said, according to the Times.

But she vowed during her morning news conference that Mexico would prosecute any officials found to be on cartel payrolls.

"We won't cover up for anyone," she said.

Zambada's comments regarding cartel payoffs across all of the major Mexican political parties added another layer of corroboration to what has long been suspected: Organized crime has thrived through collaboration with Mexican lawmakers, police and soldiers.

Zambada's charges came as the Trump administration weighs U.S. military strikes against cartel targets, the Times reported. Sheinbaum has said repeatedly her government views any unilateral U.S. action on Mexican territory as an egregious violation of sovereignty.

Commentators in Mexico have speculated about whether Zambada's case and those of other alleged high-level traffickers in U.S. custody, including two sons of the imprisoned Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Zambada's former partner in founding the Sinaloa cartel, might produce fresh corruption allegations, the Times reported, including against members of Sheinbaum's ruling Morena political bloc.

Some have assailed Sheinbaum's government for not moving to prosecute top Morena officials with purported ties to organized crime.

Sheinbaum regularly touts what she calls a cartel crackdown, the Times reported. She has dispatched thousands of troops to Mexico's border with the U.S., jailed hundreds of alleged trafficking operatives, and turned over dozens of suspects over to U.S. authorities. Her political rivals said it's mostly show to appease the Trump administration.

Although no current lawmakers or military brass have been implicated in corruption, some municipal and state police have been tied to cartel activity, Omar Garcia Harfuch, Sheinbaum's security chief, told reporters.

"If an investigation shows any politician or public functionary linked to any criminal group, the complaint would be presented and an investigation started," said Garcia Harfuch, whose official title is secretary of security and civilian protection, the Times reported. "But we don't have any proof at this time."

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