General Gerardo Mérida released from prison in the United States

General Gerardo Mérida is no longer in the custody of the U.S. federal prison system. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, he was released on August 11. General Mérida, who was the secretary of public security in Sinaloa between 2023 and 2024, is accused, along with Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya and eight other officials, of working for Los Chapitos, the faction of the Sinaloa Cartel led by the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. The 66-year-old military officer surrendered to U.S. authorities in Arizona on May 11 and pleaded not guilty at his initial appearance before a judge. He was scheduled to have a hearing in early August, but it did not take place. Now, although his legal proceedings are still ongoing, he is no longer being held in prison, raising the possibility that he could be cooperating with the U.S. witness protection system.

General Mérida’s case remains shrouded in mystery. No one has been able to explain why this high-ranking military officer chose to surrender in Arizona when his former superior, Governor Rubén Rocha from the ruling Morena party, and the other defendants continued to insist that the United States had no evidence against them. This position has also been defended by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum before the Donald Trump administration. While U.S. authorities have sought the arrest and extradition of the officials, the Mexican government has maintained that evidence must first be provided. Mérida broke ranks with that stance on May 11, when he turned himself in at 7:00 p.m. in Arizona. After crossing the border checkpoint at Nogales, he was arrested. On May 15, he appeared in chains before Judge Sarah Netburn.

The case file against Mérida alleges that the official leaked information to Los Chapitos. As Sinaloa’s secretary of public security, he allegedly warned the Sinaloa Cartel about operations targeting drug laboratories, allowing traffickers to move equipment, drugs, and personnel in advance to avoid arrests and seizures. According to the indictment, he did so on at least 10 occasions. In return, Mérida allegedly received cash bribes exceeding $100,000 per month. The general is charged in the United States with drug trafficking conspiracy and firearms possession offenses.

On June 1, Mérida appeared at a 20-minute hearing. During that session, Judge Katherine Polk of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York stated that there was substantial evidence against the general and several co-defendants. The judge granted prosecutors two months to process the evidence they had gathered against the former official. Mérida’s defense team, led by former federal prosecutor Sarah Krissoff, was also given access to review the evidence and prepare its arguments. The parties were scheduled to appear again on August 4. They did not.

Given these circumstances, the most likely path for Mérida appears to be cooperation with U.S. authorities, as El Chapo’s sons Ovidio Guzmán López and Joaquín Guzmán López have recently done. They are the very figures U.S. prosecutors accuse Mérida of protecting. Both have pleaded guilty and agreed to provide information in exchange for reduced sentences.

So far, Mérida appears to be the official most directly affected by the accusations that the United States brought in May against a group of Sinaloa public officials. As part of an investigation into Los Chapitos, known as United States v. Guzmán Salazar, the Department of Justice identified 10 individuals allegedly working on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Governor Rubén Rocha Moya was the most prominent figure named, but the list also included Culiacán Mayor Juan de Dios Gámez and Morena Senator Enrique Inzunza, both considered close allies of Rocha Moya. The governor and mayor have taken temporary leaves of absence while Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (FGR) examines whether sufficient evidence exists to support extradition requests. Inzunza remains in office, although he has not returned to Congress. All three have appeared before the FGR as witnesses. Deputy Attorney General Dámaso Castro, who was also serving when the accusations became public and who likewise requested a temporary leave of absence, is the fourth witness to have given testimony to federal prosecutors.

Little information has emerged regarding former investigative police chief Marco Antonio Almanza or municipal commander Juan Valenzuela Milán. Concerning José Antonio Dionisio, the former deputy director of the state police, it is only known that he sought legal protection against a possible arrest and extradition, but a judge denied the request. As for Alberto Jorge Contreras, also an investigative police commander, the Sinaloa government sought to grant him an early retirement pension of nearly $4,000 per month.

The most puzzling case, however, is that of Enrique Díaz, Rocha Moya’s former finance secretary. Initially, it was assumed that Díaz had surrendered to U.S. authorities, as Mérida did. To this day, however, there is no confirmed information about his whereabouts.

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