US Probes Two More Mexican Governors for Alleged Ties with Organized Crime

Articles | June 3, 2026 | by Catholics for Catholics

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The U.S. is continuing its probe on high-ranking Mexican officials.

By Catholics for Catholics

Continuing its probe on high-ranking Mexican officials, the U.S. is investigating two Mexican governors, as the Trump administration enlarges the campaign against public figures from that country that have alleged ties to organized crime.

According to a story by The Los Angeles Times, the probe against current Mexican government officials threatens to destabilize Mexico’s ruling party — which came to power on a promise to combat corruption — and further strain the already jittery relationship between the two countries.

In the past, U.S. officials mostly targeted cartel leaders. But now as some of Mexico’s most famous drug lords have been killed, arrested, or have turned themselves in, Washington has turned its attention to prosecuting elected leaders and law enforcement agents suspected of involvement in organized crime, according to The Times’ story.

Two of the governors under investigation by the U.S. are members of MORENA, the current, progressive ruling party of Mexico. They are Alfonso Durazo, the governor of Sonora, and Américo Villarreal Anaya, the governor of Tamaulipas: American authorities have deprived them of their U.S. visas amid criminal probes, according to people familiar with the cases.

Recently, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, has criticized a recent spate of U.S. investigations into sitting Mexican leaders as electoral interference and a violation of her country’s sovereignty.

In April, the Justice Department announced far-reaching criminal charges against upper-crust members of MORENA, including Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya of Sinaloa. U.S. prosecutors accused them, along with nine other current and former officials of helping the Sinaloa cartel smuggle fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine into the U.S. in exchange for millions of dollars in bribes and help winning elections.

“Is it truly a legitimate interest to combat organized crime?” Sheinbaum asked at a recent political rally. “Or are we perhaps witnessing how sectors of the American far right are using our country to position themselves for their 2026 elections? Or do they intend to influence the 2027 election in our country?”