Two properties tied to Rubén Rocha Moya, the governor of Sinaloa on leave, have been shot at in Culiacán over recent months. The latest incident took place on the night of October 26, when a building that had served as the official's campaign headquarters was targeted in the Chapultepec neighborhood, according to local media accounts.
- October attack: a property used as Rocha Moya's campaign office was fired upon in Chapultepec, Culiacán; damage was reported to the facade and to vehicles.
- May precedent: a home belonging to the governor on leave in the Las Quintas neighborhood, vacant for more than a decade, was attacked on May 9.
- No official link: authorities have not publicly determined whether the two attacks are connected or what motivated them.
The most recent attack in Chapultepec
The October 26 assault alarmed residents of the area, who said they heard gunfire for several minutes. According to initial reports, the shots damaged the front of the building on Francisco Márquez street and also hit vehicles parked inside.
Mexican Army personnel arrived at the scene after the shooting to inspect what had happened. As of the information available, no injuries or arrests had been officially reported in connection with the incident.
No possible motive or the identity of those responsible had been disclosed either. Municipal, state and federal security authorities had not publicly established whether the attack was linked to Rocha Moya or to some other circumstance.
The May precedent in Las Quintas
The October 26 attack follows an earlier episode on May 9, when a property owned by Rocha Moya was shot at in the Las Quintas neighborhood, also in Culiacán.
The house is located on Lago de Cuitzeo street and, according to the Sinaloa Public Security Secretariat, had been unoccupied for more than ten years. State security secretary Sinuhé Téllez López said the attack occurred shortly after 10:00 a.m. and that the gunfire damaged doors, windows and the facade. No one was hurt on that occasion either.
Rocha Moya had acquired the property in 1984. His 2025 asset declaration, filed with the Sinaloa Secretariat of Transparency and Accountability, listed the property as having a 72-square-meter lot and 155 square meters of construction. The document named the governor on leave as sole owner and reported no income from a possible sale, meaning the property remained part of his declared assets.
So far, no public determination has been made that the May and October attacks are related. Nor has it been disclosed whether an investigation is treating both incidents as part of the same line of inquiry.
The context: the U.S. indictment
The first attack on a Rocha Moya property came days after the United States government announced a formal indictment against him.
On April 29, 2026, federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton and then-DEA chief Terry Cole announced charges against Rocha Moya and nine other people for offenses related to drug and weapons trafficking.
According to the indictment filed in a U.S. federal court, Rocha Moya and other officials allegedly worked with Los Chapitos, a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, to facilitate its operations in exchange for political support and bribes. The document claimed that Los Chapitos helped Rocha Moya win the governorship through intimidation and the kidnapping of political rivals, and that the then-governor later promised to protect their activities in Sinaloa.
The indictment also named other Sinaloa officials and former officials, including Dámaso Castro Zaavedra, former deputy prosecutor of the state prosecutor's office; Juan Valenzuela Millán, former commander of the Culiacán Municipal Police; Senator Enrique Inzunza Cázares; and Culiacán mayor on leave Juan de Dios Gámez Mendívil, among others.
In Valenzuela Millán's case, U.S. prosecutors accused him of allegedly receiving payments from Los Chapitos and of providing information about police operations. The indictment also linked him to the 2023 kidnapping of a DEA informant and a relative, who were later killed, according to the U.S. case file.
Rocha Moya categorically rejected the U.S. accusations and described them as an attempt to undermine national sovereignty. The Attorney General's Office opened its own investigation, while the Foreign Ministry said the U.S. request for provisional arrest for extradition purposes lacked sufficient elements to establish the responsibility of those named.
Months later, in August, Rocha Moya requested a new leave of indefinite duration to step away from the Sinaloa governorship. The governor on leave had announced on August 21 that he would return to his duties, but a day later he filed the request again with the local Congress after Claudia Sheinbaum and other Morena members questioned his reinstatement. On August 24, Sheinbaum said Rocha Moya would not return to the governorship and proposed that the interim governor remain in charge of the state until the government change after the 2027 elections.
Against this backdrop, the latest attack on a property linked to the governor on leave has once again drawn attention to Rocha Moya's real estate, although authorities have not officially said what motivated the attacks or whether they are connected. The absence of arrests and of a confirmed line of investigation leaves the origin of the shootings unresolved, while the state remains under scrutiny over violence and over the judicial process the governor on leave faces in the United States.