Dámaso Castro Saavedra resigned from his post as Deputy Prosecutor of Sinaloa on Nov. 5, 2026, after exhausting a six-month leave of absence triggered by United States federal drug trafficking indictments, El Financiero reported.
The departure marks a permanent exit for the 54-year-old attorney, who stepped away from his duties in May 2026. Castro previously held roles in the defunct state Attorney General’s Office and the Common Fuero Public Ministry before his appointment as Deputy General Prosecutor, as reported by Milenio and other outlets.
Sinaloa Attorney General Claudia Zulema Sánchez Kondo confirmed the resignation to reporters, noting that the separation became final the moment his temporary leave expired. José Roberto Quiñónez Coronado remains in place as the acting head of the agency, a position he assumed when Castro first stepped down.
The U.S. indictment, unsealed in April 2026 by the U.S. Prosecutors alleged that Castro collected roughly $11,000 per month from Los Chapitos, a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Dámaso Castro Saavedra, Deputy Attorney General of México Sinaloa, has resigned. He’s in a formal indictment involving drug trafficking and ties to “Los Chapitos,” a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, reportedly filed by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.…
Following the public release of the allegations, Castro requested an unpaid leave of absence starting May 5, 2026.
“Él presentó su renuncia a la institución la semana pasada, el día 5 de noviembre. Ahorita hay un encargado,” Sánchez Kondo said to the press, as reported by Milenio and Semanario ZETA.
Castro’s legal and professional history in the region spans decades. A graduate of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, where he studied law between 1990 and 1995 and later earned a master’s degree in criminal-legal sciences, he climbed through the ranks of the state’s judicial system.
His tenure included service as a public prosecutor in Culiacán and Navolato, sub-prosecutor for the Central Zone, and director of oral litigation units before he was appointed Deputy General Prosecutor in October 2021.
Los señalamientos sobre Rocha Moya y los otros nueve funcionarios sinaloenses supusieron un parteaguas en la relación entre México y Estados Unidos, ya que el Gobierno mexicano y la Fiscalía General de la República criticaron desde un primer momento las acusaciones al carecer de elementos de prueba. The political turmoil directly intersected with an unrelenting wave of violence that has gripped Sinaloa since July of last year, fueled by an internal war within the Sinaloa Cartel.
A pivotal catalyst for this factional strife was the surrender of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada to U.S. authorities, orchestrated alongside the surrender to Washington by Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Since then, the conflict in the state capital of Culiacán and surrounding territories has pitted Los Mayos against Los Chapitos.
