Sinaloa Cartel Sanctions: US Lists Ex-Husband of Baja California Governor
MEXICO · POLITICS
Key Facts
- —What happened On 29 September 2026 the US Treasury sanctioned 21 individuals and 25 companies it links to the Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Mayos faction.
- —The name that matters Treasury places Carlos Alberto Torres Torres, ex-husband of Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila, at the centre of a protection scheme in Mexicali.
- —The denial Torres denies any link to crime and says he will ask OFAC to review the case. The governor is not on the list.
- —Mexico’s response Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit added all 46 names to its own blocked-persons list on 29 September, SDP Noticias reported.
- —The effect Property of those named in the United States is blocked, and US persons are generally barred from dealing with them.
The Sinaloa Cartel sanctions reach into a Mexican governor’s family, though the governor is not named and Torres rejects every accusation.
The US Treasury on 29 September sanctioned Carlos Torres Torres, ex-husband of Baja California’s governor, over alleged support for the Sinaloa Cartel. Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila is not named, and Torres is one of 21 people and 25 companies in the action.
What Washington did
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) runs US financial sanctions. It counted nearly 50 cartel leaders and facilitators.
The list is headed by Ismael Zambada Sicairos, known as “Mayito Flaco”. Treasury says he leads Los Mayos, one of the Sinaloa Cartel’s two warring factions.
His father, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, was arrested in July 2024, setting off a civil war with the rival Chapitos, Treasury says.
OFAC acted under two presidential orders. Executive Order 14059 targets the drug trade, and Executive Order 13224 targets terrorists and those who support them.
All property of the people named that sits in the United States, or with US persons, is now blocked. Americans are generally barred from doing business with them.
The allegations in Mexicali
Mexicali is the capital of Baja California, the Mexican state south of California. Treasury says Los Rusos, a Los Mayos sub-faction led by Juan José Ponce Félix, “El Ruso”, controls the city.
“At the center of this narco-corruption scheme is the ex-husband of the Governor of Baja California,” the release says. It calls Torres a cartel-linked political operator allied with El Ruso.
Treasury says Torres used his political influence to shield the cartel from state and police action. It adds that he reportedly received monthly payments from Pedro Ariel Mendivil García, a former Mexicali public security director.
Mendivil, it says, took bribes from El Ruso in exchange for cartel control of the city police. Torres’s brother, Luis Alfonso Torres Torres, allegedly collected the money and laundered it through companies and political campaigns.
Five companies tied to Luis Torres were also listed, among them a restaurant, a bar and an organic-food business in Tijuana. The State Department had already revoked Carlos Torres’s US visa in May 2025.
Who Carlos Torres is
Torres was born in Mexicali in 1975 and rose through the conservative National Action Party (PAN). He was a federal deputy between 2006 and 2009, El Sol de México reports.
The PAN expelled him in 2019 after he voted to extend a governor’s term from two to five years. He then moved closer to Morena, the governing party of President Claudia Sheinbaum.
He married Marina del Pilar Ávila on 20 September 2019. She took office as governor on 1 November 2021, and the couple announced their divorce on 8 October 2025.
The governor herself lost her US visa in May 2025, Étcétera recalls.
Two denials within hours
Torres answered the same afternoon. “I deny any relationship with any criminal group or activity, inside and outside Mexico,” he wrote.
He said his only stake among the listed firms is 30% of Vida Orgánica Tijuana, which runs an organic market. He put its average monthly sales at 570,000 pesos, about US$31,600 at the 29 September rate.
He said the accusations began with anonymous complaints to Mexico’s federal prosecutor in 2025. No authority has summoned him, he added, and he will ask OFAC to review the information.
The state government said the governor is not on the OFAC list and is legally divorced from Torres. It said she holds no bank accounts or property abroad.
She ordered the state’s administrative office to check whether any listed company holds state contracts. Any files found go to the state anti-corruption secretariat.
Mexico freezes the same names
Mexico’s own financial watchdog moved the same day. The Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) of the finance ministry added all 21 people and 25 companies to its blocked-persons list.
The UIF said Mexican banks had reported risky operations and irregularities linked to the names. It called the freeze a precautionary administrative step to protect the financial system, SDP Noticias reported.
It said the listing is not a finding of guilt, and those named can challenge the freeze in court.
Morena faces questions as it picks its 2027 slate
The sanctions landed as Morena presented poll results for its state coordinators, the figures expected to run for governor in 2027. Party president Ariadna Montiel was asked about Torres at that event.
“We do not cover up for anyone,” she said, adding that Mexico’s federal prosecutor must determine responsibility. She also rejected any attempt to dictate Mexican politics from abroad.
In neighbouring Baja California Sur, a separate state, the slate itself is contested. Milena Quiroga, La Paz’s mayor on leave, asked Morena’s leadership for a technical review after Manuel Cota won the post.
“There must be clarity and, above all, respect for the internal process,” Quiroga said. Cota, a 35-year-old federal deputy on leave and son of a former governor, is due to become the alliance’s candidate.
What it changes, and what remains open
An OFAC listing is a financial and administrative measure, not a criminal conviction. No Mexican court has charged Carlos Torres, and OFAC has a formal process for requesting removal.
For businesses on both sides of the border, the practical rule is plain. Banks in both countries now treat the listed people and firms as blocked.
What comes next depends on Mexico’s federal prosecutor, the state’s contract review and any OFAC answer to Torres.
More: Mexico news, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila sanctioned?
No. The US Treasury release of 29 September names her ex-husband, Carlos Torres, and his brother, not the governor. Her government says she is legally divorced from Torres and holds no accounts or property abroad.
What does an OFAC sanction mean in practice?
Their property in the United States, or held by US persons, is blocked and must be reported to OFAC. US persons are generally barred from transactions with them. It is not a criminal conviction.
Has Mexico acted on the list?
Yes. On 29 September Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit added all 46 names to its blocked-persons list as a precaution. It said the step is not a finding of guilt and can be challenged in court.
Sources: Étcétera · US Department of the Treasury · SDP Noticias · SDP Noticias · SDP Noticias · El Sol de México · El Sol de México · El Sudcaliforniano · El Sudcaliforniano
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