The Fiscalía General de la República (FGR), led by Ernestina Godoy, is preparing to file criminal charges against Durango’s governor, Esteban Villegas, a member of the PRI party. According to sources familiar with the investigation who spoke to La Silla Rota, the accusations involve Villegas’s administration allegedly protecting narcotics operations linked to the group “Los Cabrera,” an offshoot of the Sinaloa cartel faction known as “La Mayiza.”

The investigation centers on the protection allegedly extended to Ismael Zambada Sicairos, aka “El Mayito Flaco,” who is considered the presumed successor to Ismael “Mayo” Zambada, currently facing legal proceedings in the United States. Following Mayo Zambada’s arrest in July 2024, violent clashes between “Los Cabrera” and the rival faction “Los Chapitos,” led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s sons, intensified in Durango.

Esteban Villegas Villarreal, 50, has been governor since September 2022, after winning the election in a coalition with the National Action Party (PAN) and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). Before this, he served as mayor of Durango’s capital city, state health secretary, and twice as a local congressman.

Sources indicate that Villegas is aware of the FGR’s case file, which also implicates other state officials, including the state attorney general Sonia Yadira de la Garza. A member of her inner circle is reportedly the liaison between the local prosecutor’s office and Zambada Sicairos.

The governor has reportedly confided in close collaborators about the imminent FGR actions targeting several members of the state government. At least one of those informed has already left Durango.

The same anonymous sources told La Silla Rota that “El Mayito Flaco” has also left the state, and his current whereabouts remain unknown.

If the FGR proceeds with charges against Governor Villegas and his close associates, he would become the second sitting governor facing criminal accusations, alongside Morena’s Rubén Rocha Moya, who is currently on leave in Sinaloa.

This development highlights ongoing challenges in Mexico’s fight against organized crime and the complex entanglement of political figures with narcotrafficking networks. For migrants and residents alike, understanding these dynamics is key to grasping the broader social and political landscape shaping security and governance in Mexico today.