Nestor Isidro Perez Salas, commonly referred to as ‘El Nini,’ a significant figure within Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel and formerly a prime focus of America’s most-wanted list due to suspected ties to the fentanyl trade, has been extradited to the United States, as per CNN reports.
US President Joe Biden praised the collaborative efforts between the US and Mexico, hailing the extradition of El Nini, also known as Nestor Isidro Perez Salas, as a significant step towards justice.
“El Nini played a prominent role in the notorious Sinaloa cartel, one of the deadliest drug trafficking enterprises in the world. 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 remarked, expressing gratitude to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
“Our governments will continue to work together to attack the fentanyl and synthetic drug epidemic that is killing so many people in our homelands and globally, and to bring to justice the criminals and organizations producing, smuggling, and selling these lethal poisons in both of our countries,” he added.
According to the US Department of Justice, Nestor Isidro Perez Salas “was one of the Sinaloa cartel’s lead sicarios, or assassins,” involved in the “production and sale of fentanyl” in the United States.
Previously identified by Biden as one of America’s most-wanted criminals, Perez Salas faced charges in the US, including conspiracy to traffic cocaine and methamphetamine, possession of illegal firearms and explosive devices, and witness intimidation, dating back to February 2021.
The US State Department had issued a reward of up to USD 3 million for information leading to his capture, with Perez Salas eventually apprehended in Mexico in November of the preceding year.
According to State Department sources, Perez Salas collaborated closely with Oscar Noe Medina Gonzalez, a subordinate of Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, one of the sons of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, currently serving a prison sentence in the US since 2019.
Additionally, Perez Salas was attributed responsibility for overseeing the security operations of Los Chapitos, a faction within the Sinaloa cartel, and allegedly served as one of the commanders of the “Ninis” cell, described as an exceptionally violent contingent within Los Chapitos’ security personnel.
“I am grateful to our Mexican government counterparts for their extraordinary efforts in apprehending and extraditing El Nini,” said US Attorney General Merrick Garland’s office in a statement.
“The Justice Department will continue to go after the cartels responsible for flooding our communities with fentanyl and other drugs,” it further noted.