Tale of Gym Bag Stuffed With Cash Ensnares Top Opponent of Mexico’s President

NEW YORK—Three years ago, conservative Mexican politician Ricardo Anaya was running for president, aspiring to spend the next six years issuing orders from the sumptuous presidential residence in Mexico City.

Instead, he found himself recently standing on a crowded New York City street, waiting for an Amazon van to deliver a mattress to a tiny, unfurnished utility apartment with two windows looking out on a brick wall. He wore dark glasses, a surgical mask and a blue baseball cap.