The former top security official of the Mexican state of Sinaloa is in US custody, facing charges over his alleged ties to a broad conspiracy to traffic illegal drugs into the US.
Gerardo Merida Sanchez, 66, the former public security minister of Sinaloa, appeared in Manhattan federal court on Friday for a five-minute hearing in which he pleaded not guilty to three counts.
Merida Sanchez was indicted last month along with Ruben Rocha Moya, 76, and eight other current and former officials for various crimes. He is apparently the first official to be arrested in the case.
The former security official was arrested on May 11 and made a brief appearance in court in Tucson, Arizona, before being sent to New York, according to court records. He is being held at a federal prison in Brooklyn.
Merida Sanchez faces charges including conspiracy to send narcotics into the US and possession of machine guns and destructive devices. He faces life in prison if convicted.
The Mexican Ministry of Security said in a post on X that Merida Sanchez entered the US through an official border crossing in Nogales, Arizona, where he was apprehended by US Marshals. Merida Sanchez’s lawyer, Sarah Krissoff, declined to say whether he had surrendered to US authorities.
US prosecutors say Sinaloa cartel leaders helped get Rocha Moyo elected by kidnapping and intimidating his rivals in exchange for his promise to protect them when they distribute drugs to the US. Rocha Moya, who has denied the charges, is the most high-profile Mexican official to be indicted in the US as of 2020.
Mexico said last month that the US had requested the extradition of certain individuals without providing proof of the charges against them. The State Department said the attorney general would review the request.
The case is U.S. v. Guzman Salazar, 23-cr-180, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
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