Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, a 32-year-old alleged Sinaloa Cartel leader and lead sicario, also known as El Nini, was extradited from Mexico to the United States on May 25 to face charges of drug importation, murder, kidnapping, and more.
Pérez Salas is accused of being one of the Sinaloa Cartel’s lead assassins, responsible for the murder, torture, and kidnapping of rivals and witnesses who threatened the cartel’s criminal drug trafficking enterprise. This includes killing a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) confidential source and killing others in retaliation for the confidential source’s cooperation.
The first indictment, filed in the District of Columbia by the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section (NDDS), charges Pérez Salas with cocaine and methamphetamine importation, firearms offenses, and conspiracy to obstruct justice through murder.
The second indictment, filed in the Southern District of New York (SDNY), charges Pérez Salas with leadership of a continuing criminal enterprise resulting in the deaths of numerous victims, including a confidential source for the DEA, fentanyl importation and trafficking, obstruction of justice by murdering an informant, kidnapping resulting in the deaths of eight people, including a minor boy, firearms, and money laundering offenses.
Pérez Salas was arrested in Culiacan, Mexico, by Mexican authorities on Nov. 22, 2023. He was presented on the charges contained in the SDNY indictment today at 10:30 a.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang.
The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the most powerful drug cartels in Mexico and is responsible for a substantial portion of the fentanyl that is manufactured and imported for distribution in the United States. Fentanyl is a dangerous synthetic opioid that is more than 50 times more potent than heroin and is the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 49.
Pérez Salas is allegedly one of the senior leaders of the Chapitos’ security apparatus. Under Pérez Salas’ direction, armed enforcers for the Chapitos, known as sicarios, have allegedly used rampant violence to protect the Chapitos’ operations and to demolish unsupportive businesses, capture contested territory, intimidate civilians, and attack and murder law enforcement members who resist their efforts.
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Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Violent Crime|Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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