Anabel Hernández alleges pact between AMLO and Sinaloa Cartel

Journalist and author Anabel Hernández has alleged that former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador fulfilled commitments made to the Sinaloa Cartel dating back to his 2006 presidential campaign. In interviews regarding her new book, ‘Narcocracia’, Hernández cites testimony from former criminal operative Sergio Villarreal Barragán, alias ‘El Grande’, who claims to have witnessed a meeting in 2006 involving a large cash delivery intended to secure operational guarantees.

According to Hernández, these alleged agreements manifested in federal security decisions, including restrictions on the operational capacity of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) within Mexico. She also links the administration's policies to the 2019 decision to halt a military operation against Ovidio Guzmán López in Culiacán.

The investigation further suggests that criminal financing may have extended to the 2012 and 2018 election cycles, based on testimonies from other individuals such as Dámaso López Serrano, known as ‘Mini Lic’. Hernández asserts that these purported pacts influenced the ‘abrazos, no balazos’ security strategy and the subsequent expansion of fentanyl trafficking.