Mexico extradited an alleged leader and “lead assassin” of the Sinaloa Cartel to the U.S. to face multiple drug trafficking and violence-related charges, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Thursday.
Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, 32, was arrested in Culiacan, Mexico, Nov. 22, 2023 and extradited May 25, according to the DOJ’s statement.
He “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,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland alleged in the statement.
Pérez Salas, also known as El Nini, allegedly helped to import cocaine and methamphetamine into the U.S. and to produce and sell fentanyl in the U.S. and elsewhere, the statement reads. He allegedly caused the murders of numerous victims. This included members of the rival Los Zetas cartel and two Mexican officers, the DOJ alleged.
He also allegedly oversaw the killings a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) informant and seven others—including a 13-year-old boy—whom he believed to either work with or be related to the informant. They were among ten people allegedly kidnapped, including a U.S. citizen. He also faces kidnapping, firearms and money laundering charges. (RELATED: Notorious Drug Lord’s Son Extradited To The US)
Capturaron en calzones y después de dos balazos en la azotea de una casa en Culiacán, Sinaloa a Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas El Nini jefe de seguridad de Los Chapitos, caminaba erráticamente sin saber que hacer, no tenia escoltas, pareciera como si los mismos Chapitos lo hubieran… pic.twitter.com/zhIhN3pwn3
— Blog del Narco México (@blogdelnarcomex) November 23, 2023
Pérez Salas and others allegedly committed the murders and other acts of rampant violence and intimidation while he spearheaded the “Ninis,” the DOJ said in the statement. The “Ninis” allegedly comprise a violent security apparatus guarding the Chapitos — the sons of notorious former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, also known as El Chapo.
Pérez Salas faces 13 charges in two federal courts — three charges in the District of Columbia and 10 in the Southern District of New York according to the DOJ’s statement. He faces the possibility of multiple lengthy sentences, including multiple life sentences.
“Today, El Nini joins the growing list of cartel leaders and associates extradited to the United States and held accountable in an American courtroom,” Garland said in the statement, expressing gratitude to the Mexican government for facilitating Salas’ extradition. “The Justice Department will always be relentless in its pursuit of the cartels responsible for flooding our communities with fentanyl and other drugs.”
