– Sinaloa drug cartel assassin extradited to US
– Top Sinaloa drug cartel hitman sent to United States.
Accident – Death – Obituary News :
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top assassin for the Sinaloa drug cartel who was apprehended by Mexican authorities last autumn has been extradited to the United States to confront charges of drug trafficking, firearms violations, and witness intimidation, as stated by the Justice Department on Saturday.
Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, also known as “El Nini,” is a prominent figure and commander within a security group that provided protection for the incarcerated drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s sons, aiding in their illicit drug operations, as per federal investigators. The sons oversee a faction known as the “little Chapos” or “Chapitos,” which has been identified as a major distributor of the lethal synthetic opioid fentanyl in the US.
High Fentanyl Death Toll
Fentanyl is held responsible for approximately 70,000 overdose deaths annually in the United States, making it a significant public health concern.
“We allege El Nini was one of the Sinaloa Cartel’s lead sicarios, or assassins, and was responsible for the murder, torture, and kidnapping of rivals and witnesses who threatened the cartel’s criminal drug trafficking enterprise,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated in a news release over the weekend.
Legal documents did not specify an attorney representing Pérez Salas who could provide a statement on his behalf.
DEA Reward and Extradition
Last year, the Justice Department unveiled a series of charges against cartel leaders, with the US Drug Enforcement Administration offering a $3 million reward for the capture of Pérez Salas, aged 31. He was seized at a fortified property in the Sinaloa state capital of Culiacan in November last year.
President Joe Biden, in a written statement, expressed gratitude to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for extraditing Pérez Salas to the United States.
“Our governments will continue collaborating to combat the fentanyl and synthetic drug epidemic that is claiming numerous lives in our countries and globally, and to bring to justice the criminals and organisations involved in producing, smuggling, and distributing these lethal substances in both our nations,” Biden affirmed.
Notorious Reputation
The moniker “Nini” is believed to derive from a Mexican colloquialism “neither nor,” used to characterise individuals who neither work nor study.
At the time of his arrest, Mike Vigil, former head of international operations for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, labelled him as “a complete psychopath.”
Pérez Salas led a security team known as the Ninis, described as “a particularly violent group of security personnel for the Chapitos,” in an indictment unveiled last year in New York. The Ninis underwent military-style training in various combat scenarios, including urban warfare, special weapons and tactics, and sniper expertise.
Gruesome Acts
Pérez Salas was implicated in the torture of a Mexican federal agent in 2017, as per authorities. He and others reportedly subjected the individual to two hours of torture, which included inserting a corkscrew into his muscles, pulling it out, and placing hot chillies in the wounds.
According to the indictment, the Ninis carried out heinous acts of violence. They would transport captured rivals to ranches owned by the Chapitos for execution, with some victims fed — dead or alive — to tigers the Chapitos kept as pets, the indictment revealed.
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1. assassin for Sinaloa drug cartel
2. extradited to US.
