One of the Sinaloa Cartel’s lead assassins, named in an indictment listing allegations that include feeding rivals to pet tigers, has been arrested in Mexico.
Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, also known as “El Nini,” was arrested on Wednesday in Mexico, authorities said.
“This guy was a complete psychopath,” said Mike Vigil, former head of international operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, The Associated Press reported. “Taking him out of commission is a good thing for Mexico.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that Pérez Salas and his security forces “murdered, tortured, and kidnapped rivals, witnesses, and others who opposed the Chapitos.”
Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas (Screenshot from El Universal/YouTube)
The news comes after Garland announced charges against 23 leaders, members, and associates of the Sinaloa Cartel in a push to disrupt and dismantle the organization authorities say is responsible for operating one of the deadliest and most prolific drug trafficking operations in the world.
Among those charged are the cartel’s drug traffickers, their money launderers, their manufacturers, their chemical suppliers, their leaders and security forces, authorities said.
President Joe Biden said in a statement that “El Nini” has been one of Mexico’s and the United States’ most wanted criminals for three years.
“Both our countries are safer with him behind bars and facing justice for his crimes,” Biden said. “His arrest also follows Mexico’s arrest and extradition to the United States of another Chapitos leader, Ovidio Guzmán López, earlier this year.”
“These arrests are testament to the commitment between the United States and Mexico to secure our communities against violence, counter the cartels, and end the scourge of illicit fentanyl that is hurting so many families,” Biden added. “We will continue working as strong partners to do everything possible to hold criminals accountable for jeopardizing public health and safety in our two countries.”
The Sinaloa Cartel is responsible for a big influx of fentanyl into the U.S. over several years, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said.
A Feb. 22, 2021, federal grand jury indictment in Washington accuses Pérez Salas of cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and witness retaliation.
Another federal grand jury indictment against him and others in April of this year in New York alleges fentanyl importation conspiracy, fentanyl trafficking conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices, and money laundering conspiracy.
The New York indictment alleges extreme brutality, including the use of a corkscrew to insert into a victim’s muscles, “ripping it out of his muscles, and placing hot chiles in his open wounds and nose,” the court document said. “While many of these victims were shot, others were fed, dead or alive, to tigers.”
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