Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya speaks as he leaves the inauguration ceremony of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at the San Lazaro Legislative Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, on October 1, 2024. Jose Luis Torales/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The governor of a Mexican state who was accused by the United States of ties to drug trafficking said on Friday he was temporarily stepping down to facilitate investigations.

Sinaloa Gov. Ruben Rocha Moya and nine others were charged by the U.S. Justice Department this week for working with the notorious Sinaloa cartel to distribute "massive quantities" of narcotics to the United States.

Rocha Moya, a member of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's left-leaning Morena party, has decried the allegations as "false and malicious." At least three officials charged in the indictment were affiliated with Morena.

"I inform the people of Sinaloa that today I submitted to the State Congress my request for a temporary leave from the position of governor," he said in a YouTube video late Friday.

Sheinbaum said Thursday that Mexico will extradite officials to the U.S. only if given "irrefutable evidence" of cartel links. The president said this was the first time the U.S. had made narcotrafficking charges public against a sitting governor or other high-ranking official.

Rocha Moya, who is close to former leftist president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has been governor of the northwestern state of Sinaloa since 2021.

The governor was embroiled in a scandal in 2023 involving the Sinaloa cartel, in which his name was published in a letter written by a then-Sinaloa cartel capo whose leaders of a rival faction the cartel had kidnapped. The cartel capo was handed off to law enforcement in the U.S. The capo said in the letter that when he was kidnapped, he believed he was on his way to meet with Rocha Moya.

The governor faces federal charges, including narcotics importation conspiracy and possession of machine guns and destructive devices, along with another conspiracy count. If convicted, Rocha Moya, could face life in prison or a mandatory minimum of 40 years behind bars.

Juan de Dios Gamez, the mayor of Sinaloa's capital, Culiacan, who was among those named by the U.S. Justice Department, also announced he would step down.

The two men leaving office no longer enjoy immunity and can be subject to investigation.

The stunning charges add to already strained diplomatic relations with President Trump's administration, following the recent death of two U.S. agents -- reportedly CIA personnel -- in connection with a drug bust operation.

The Sinaloa cartel is one of six Mexican narcotrafficking groups designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the Trump administration.

Sheinbaum has faced pressure from Washington to accept U.S. intervention, such as drone strikes or military personnel, to fight cartels.

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