“Yesterday, Mexican authorities arrested Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, also known as ‘El Nini,’ who we allege is one of the Sinaloa Cartel’s lead sicarios, or assassins” said American Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thanksgiving.
El Nini worked for “the Chapitos wing of the Sinaloa drug cartel” — which is run by the sons of the now jailed drug kingpin El Chapo. The Chapitos are one of the largest cartels bringing fentanyl into the United States, according to CBS News. El Nini worked as their security lead, and his role in the cartel was large enough that the State Department announced a $3 million bounty for his capture in April of this year.
The security wing of the Chapitos that he ran called, “Los Ninis” — which is Mexican slang for young people who do not work or study — was trained in sniper tactics, special weapons, and urban warfare, all done in support of the cartel’s drug operations.
His crimes go far beyond drug trafficking however.
Beyond that training, the Justice Department’s allegation of torture seems well founded. According to CBS News, El Nini was personally involved in an incident where a man had a corkscrew inserted into his muscles, and after it was yanked out, hot chiles were placed in the open wound.
The original indictment against El Nini included the accusation that the Chapitos’ victims were sometimes “fed, dead or alive, to tigers [that the Chapitos] raised and kept … as pets.”
Los Ninis are also accused of conducting human experiments with fentanyl on their victims, though the Chapitos’ lawyers have said the group is being scapegoated, according to the Guardian.
Other than the fact that the arrest happened in Culiacán, no other details of the capture have been released. American authorities are working on extraditing El Nini to the United States, where courts in the District of Columbia, New York, and Illinois have indictments against him.
American Attorney General Garland thanked his Mexican counterparts, applauding them for, “the extraordinary efforts of the Mexican authorities who made the arrest, and to whom we are all grateful for their courage.”
Likewise, the White House also issued a statement on the event, saying, “I want to thank President López Obrador and the Mexican Army and special forces for effectively capturing El Nini, and express our appreciation for the brave men and women of the Mexican security forces who undertook this successful operation to apprehend him.”
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