US sanctions Mexico judge, ex-governor

The United States on Friday slapped sanctions on a Mexican judge and a former state governor, accusing them of taking bribes from drug traffickers, and saying that government corruption had allowed Mexican drug gangs to grow and operate with impunity.

Nine other people and ten groups were also designated in the sanctions for what the US Treasury Department said was their involvement with drug trafficking and links to the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Los Cuinis Drug Trafficking Organization.

The CJNG is one of Mexico’s

dominant drug gangs and the second-biggest seller of drugs on US streets, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

“Our ultimate goal is to destroy and degrade drug trafficking organizations such as the CJNG and Los Cuinis. Today’s action is another step toward our goal,” said DEA Los Angeles’ Special Agent in Charge, David J Downing.

The magistrate judge, Isidro Avelar Gutierrez, accepted bribes from drug trafficking organisations in exchange for favorable rulings for their senior members, Treasury said.

The former governor of the Mexican state of Nayarit, Roberto Sandoval Castaneda, was designated for corruption activities including accepting bribes and misappropriating state funds.

Mexico’s finance ministry said in a statement that the targeted people were on the “blacklists” of both countries.

“This is a new era of interagency collaboration and coordination between our nations in the fight against corruption, money laundering and the financing of terrorism,” said Santiago Nieto, head of the Mexican finance ministry’s financial intelligence unit.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who took office in December, has pledged to stamp out corruption.

A senior member of the CJNG, Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytan, who is also known as “El Sapo,” was among those hit with sanctions, for what the US said was kidnappings and numerous killings.