The US Department of Justice has confirmed the extradition of Nestor Isidro Perez Salas, more commonly known as “El Nini”, from Mexico to the United States. Salas, believed to be the lead assassin of the notorious Sinaloa Cartel, was arrested in Mexico on November 22, 2023 due to his involvement in violent activities and his part in trafficking fentanyl from Mexico into the US. His capture was a formidable victory against one of the US’s most wanted criminals, who had a $3 million bounty on his head.
Click here for the official statement on the extradition.
The Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico’s oldest and most prolific criminal organizations, is a multi-faceted entity without a single leader. Instead, it is split into different cooperating branches. Notably, one of these branches is led by the sons of the infamous El Chapo, nicknamed “Los Chapitos”.
For an in-depth report on the Sinaloa Cartel by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), click here.
In 2023, the US Justice Department and DEA announced charges against the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel’s global operations as well as its members. Amongst those indicted were El Chapo’s sons, the aforementioned “Los Chapitos”. According to the official statement, the Sinaloa Cartel functioned as a network of drug traffickers and money launderers, procuring drugs from China, manufacturing them in Mexico and then smuggling them into the United States. This criminal network also laundered and transferred the proceeds of their illegal endeavors.
For more on the official charges against the Cartel, click here.
Following the arrest of Salas and the extradition of Ovidio Guzman Lopez, President Biden issued a statement in which he praised the joint effort taken by the US and Mexico to combat cartel violence, suppress their activities and put an end to the illicit fentanyl trade that is wreaking havoc on families across the US.
Read President Biden’s full statement here.
Further announcements from the DEA stated that earlier this week, the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel Money Laundering Organization, Luis Reinaldo Ramirez, was sentenced to 120 months in prison for his part in an extortion plot.
Click here for the DEA announcement.
Fentanyl, a substance that is responsible for approximately 70,000 deaths annually in the US, was allegedly produced and sold by the Sinaloa Cartel, with Salas heavily involved in the operation. In response to this growing threat, the DEA’s 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment noted that disrupting the operations of the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco Cartel – two cartels responsible for the majority of drug trafficking into the US – remains a top priority.
For more on the DEA’s threat assessment, click here.