Senator Enrique Inzunza Cázares, from Sinaloa, has announced his resignation from the ruling Morena party’s parliamentary group. Inzunza declared that he will serve as an independent senator, refusing calls to resign from his legislative seat as he faces a United States extradition request linked to alleged ties with the Sinaloa Cartel.
In a public letter, Inzunza framed his departure as a matter of personal conviction and self-defense, asserting his personal honesty and legal standing while rejecting the label of “traitor.” By retaining his seat in the Senate, Inzunza preserves his legal immunity (fuero), which protects him from immediate arrest within Mexico despite the pending U.S. extradition request.
The legal troubles for the Sinaloa politician surfaced publicly on April 29, when the U.S. Department of Justice named Inzunza alongside nine other Sinaloa officials in an investigation into alleged collusion with organized crime. Following those allegations, Inzunza largely disappeared from public parliamentary duties. He missed four consecutive months of sessions in the Standing Committee of the Mexican Congress, participating in legislative proceedings only once via video stream on June 25 for a Senate Justice Commission meeting.
Inzunza’s departure from Morena came as party leadership deemed his continued presence in the caucus unsustainable. Leaving the party carries immediate consequences within the legislature: Inzunza forfeits his leadership of the Senate’s Legislative Studies Commission along with other internal leadership positions held through Morena.
Despite his four-month absence from physical Senate proceedings, Inzunza has continued to receive his monthly legislative salary of 132,900 pesos (approximately $7,200 USD), collecting over 531,000 pesos during this period. Senate leadership authorized these payments via physical checks due to the fact that Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) froze his bank accounts as part of the ongoing drug trafficking investigation. Senate officials stated there is no legal impediment or final judicial ruling stripping him of his constitutional rights or legislative pay while he remains in office.
Inzunza is expected to physically return to the Senate chamber on Monday to participate in the full floor vote to elect the Senate’s new governing president.
Source: Excelsior
