In a significant victory for U.S. law enforcement, Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, a high-ranking member of the notorious Sinaloa cartel, has been extradited to the United States from Mexico. Known by his alias "El Nini," Pérez Salas was among America's most-wanted criminals due to his alleged involvement in the deadly fentanyl trade.
President Joe Biden, in a speech lauding the U.S.-Mexico cooperation on the case, described the extradition as "a good day for justice." He emphasized El Nini's central role in the Sinaloa cartel, one of the world's most lethal drug trafficking organizations. "El Nini played a prominent role in the notorious Sinaloa cartel... The United States has charged him for his role in illicit fentanyl trafficking and for murdering, torturing, and kidnapping numerous rivals, witnesses, and others," Biden said.
The U.S. Department of Justice has identified Pérez Salas as one of the Sinaloa cartel's leading sicarios, or assassins, and implicated him in the production and sale of fentanyl in the United States. The charges against him, filed in February 2021, include cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and witness retaliation.
The U.S. State Department had previously offered a reward of up to $3 million for information leading to his arrest. Pérez Salas was apprehended in Mexico in November of last year.
Pérez Salas is alleged to have worked closely with Oscar Noé Medina González, a subordinate of Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, one of the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the infamous drug lord who was sentenced to prison in the U.S. in 2019. He was reportedly responsible for the security apparatus of Los Chapitos, a faction of the Sinaloa cartel, and was a commander of the “Ninis” cell, a group described as "particularly violent."
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland's office expressed gratitude to the Mexican government for their extraordinary efforts in apprehending and extraditing El Nini. The Justice Department vowed to continue its pursuit of the cartels responsible for flooding U.S. communities with fentanyl and other drugs.
The extradition of Pérez Salas marks a significant step in the ongoing battle against the international drug trade, and underscores the commitment of both the U.S. and Mexican governments to bring to justice those responsible for the production, smuggling, and sale of lethal substances in their countries.
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