Day 670: Extradition Standoff Day 25 — Seven of Ten Indicted Officials Still in Mexico; El Mayo Zambada Sentencing on Track for July 20; La Mayiza Holds ~90% of Sinaloa

On Day 670 of the Sinaloa cartel civil war — May 24, 2026 — the US-Mexico extradition standoff triggered by the April 29 SDNY indictment of Governor Rubén Rocha Moya and nine other Sinaloa officials enters its 25th day with no resolution. Three of the ten indicted officials are in US federal custody at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center — former Security Secretary Gerardo Mérida Sánchez (surrendered Arizona, May 11), former Finance Secretary Enrique Díaz Vega (surrendered, May 15), and Morena Senator Enrique Inzunza Cazárez (surrendered San Diego, May 17). Seven remain in Mexico, including Governor Rocha Moya (on temporary leave, reportedly at Culiacán Government Palace under FGR aerial surveillance per Infobae), Culiacán Mayor Juan de Dios Gámez Mendívil (resigned mayoralty to strip immunity but has not surrendered), and five other former officials. Mexico's FGR continues reviewing the US evidence package; the Sheinbaum administration maintains its 'not a protectorate' sovereignty position. El Mayo Zambada García's EDNY sentencing before Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn remains scheduled for July 20, 2026 — a 3rd postponement from the original January 2026 date. The defense memorandum is due July 6. No sentencing hearing took place on May 18 as previously scheduled; the absence of any DOJ announcement confirms the proceeding was postponed a third time. El Mayo faces a mandatory life sentence plus $15 billion forfeiture on his August 25, 2025 guilty plea to running a continuing criminal enterprise. Ovidio Guzmán López's sentencing in Chicago before Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman (NDIL) remains set for July 27, 2026. Yesterday (May 23), the DOJ unsealed an EDVA indictment against two Chinese nationals — Ruhuan Zhen and Hongce Wu — for laundering Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG drug proceeds through a multi-jurisdictional network spanning 2016–2025, the fifth major US enforcement action targeting the cartel's financial infrastructure in 34 days. On the ground in Sinaloa, La Mayiza continues to hold approximately 90% of former Chapitos territory; 13,300+ Mexican federal troops remain deployed statewide under interim Governor Yeraldine Bonilla Valverde's coordinated security cabinet. The 2026 monthly homicide trajectory continues below 2025 peak levels (March 2026: 79–121 homicides, the lowest since the war began). Mexico's UIF maintains its freeze on Rocha Moya's domestic bank accounts (since May 15). The May 20 OFAC crypto sanctions continue to reverberate as global cryptocurrency exchanges and OTC brokers implement SDN list updates. Running conflict toll: ~2,425+ homicides (Noroeste) / 3,000+ (WSJ, May 17) since September 9, 2024; ~5,800 disappearances (NGO Sabuesos Unidas AC, as of May 14, 2026).