It was September 15, 2021, Rubén Rocha Moya had not yet assumed the Governorship, but he was suggesting names of his Cabinet in Sinaloa to succeed Quirino Ordaz Coppel, including changes in autonomous bodies.
Juan José Ríos Estavillo, a man who arrived at the state Attorney General’s Office in 2017 parallel to Quirino as Governor, said goodbye, submitted his resignation to the State Congress and left.
The name of Sara Bruna Quiñónez Estrada resounded strongly in Sinaloa for two reasons. The first was because she was still a judge, close to Enrique Inzunza Cázarez – who was president of the Judiciary 10 times in 11 years -, the right hand of Governor Rocha Moya and then virtual Secretary General of Government.
The second, for having been the person who harshly judged eight former officials of the State Government for acts of corruption.
Their stance was reluctant, even critical of the prosecutors in charge of the cases and their bosses who accepted in each and every one of them arrangements for alternative solutions.
Sara Bruna managed to position herself as the “Iron Judge”, admired by civil organizations, victims and business chambers.
In September 2017, while Ríos Estavillo was resigning, she was retiring from the Judiciary and positioning herself as the favorite. Rocha Moya sent a shortlist to the local Congress, where in a unanimous vote they decided to appoint her as the first female Attorney General of Sinaloa.
The first acid test occurred in August 2023, when the Patrimonial and Economic Intelligence Unit of the Prosecutor’s Office – a similarity to the Financial Intelligence Unit – opened an investigation file against Héctor Melesio Cuén Ojeda, former Rector of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS) and founder of the Sinaloense Party, for alleged unexplained enrichment.
Until July 25, Cuén Ojeda was Rubén Rocha Moya’s greatest opponent.
Sara Bruna Quiñónez Estrada entrusted the investigations to Nereyda Avilez, appointed as Anti-Corruption Prosecutor, but she resigned from her position without further explanation, only that she preferred early retirement, after 25 years of service.
The State Attorney General’s Office decided to continue the investigations and one by one they were presented. Currently, all of them are in the complementary investigation phase.
On the night of July 25, he had his second test of his ability to handle a high-level case: Héctor Melesio Cuén Ojeda was murdered.
Quiñónez Estrada opened an investigation file and on July 29 appeared before the media to read a statement, in which it was reported that Cuén Ojeda had been murdered in an attempted carjacking, that his main evidence was the statement of a young man who was with him on July 25 and that his statements were practically sufficient.
15 days later, that version was diluted. A letter from Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, arrested on July 25 in the US, criticized the prosecutor’s version, stating that Cuén died in the same place where he was kidnapped.
The FGR took over the case and, three days later, presented a list of 10 basic findings that demonstrated incorrect handling of the murder investigation.
Twelve hours passed after that announcement until Rocha announced that he had recommended, through a 5-minute call, resignation, an action that was approved yesterday by the state Congress.
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