During the administration of Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, homicides and extortion increased.
In 2022, there were 478 victims, while in 2025, the number rose to 1,656, an increase of 1,178.
According to statistics from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP), 86 victims were documented in the last two months of 2021; 478 in 2022; 531 in 2023; 994 in 2024; 1,656 in 2025; and 293 in the first quarter of 2026. This means that, on average, 76 people were murdered each month.
During the administration of Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, homicides and extortion increased.
Armando Rodríguez Luna, an independent consultant specializing in political, social, and security risk analysis, says that the leave of absence granted by the state Congress to the Morena party governor presents challenges for the federal government, as well as for Sinaloa society, because with such questioned and delegitimized institutions, it is impossible to exercise any kind of authority.
The consultant emphasizes that a much more significant federal intervention is required in these areas: government, security, and justice, to guarantee the state’s stability.
“And that makes it more vulnerable to a possible US military intervention, like in Venezuela with Nicolás Maduro… They already did it with Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada in a more clandestine way, like the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), when they took him away,” he believes.
Francisco Rivas Rodríguez, director of the National Citizen Observatory (ONC), says that Rocha Moya will likely go down in history as the worst governor of Sinaloa.
He comments that the people of that state are experiencing a profound security crisis, and while not the entire state has the same levels of danger as Culiacán, “the truth is that the highways and the people themselves tell you where you can and can’t go.”
Arlene Ramírez Uresti, PhD in International Relations and professor at the Ibero-American University, indicates that Rocha Moya’s removal from office is a sign of the Mexican government’s willingness to comply with the United States’ request.
