WASHINGTON — A top assassin for the Sinaloa drug cartel who was arrested by Mexican authorities last fall has been extradited to the U.S. to face drug, gun and witness retaliation charges, the Justice Department said Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
N\u00e9stor Isidro P\u00e9rez Salas, also known as \u201cEl Nini,\u201d is a leader and commander of a group that provided security for the sons of imprisoned drug lord Joaqu\u00edn \u201cEl Chapo\u201d Guzm\u00e1n, and also helped in their drug business, federal investigators said. The sons lead a faction known as the little Chapos, or \u201cChapitos,\u201d that has been identified as one of the main exporters of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl to the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fentanyl is blamed for about 70,000 overdose deaths per year in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe allege El Nini was one of the Sinaloa Cartel\u2019s lead sicarios, or assassins, and was responsible for the murder, torture, and kidnapping of rivals and witnesses who threatened the cartel\u2019s criminal drug trafficking enterprise,\u201d U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a news release Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Court records did not list an attorney for P\u00e9rez Salas who might comment on his behalf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Justice Department last year announced a slew of charges against cartel leaders, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration posted a $3 million reward for the capture of P\u00e9rez Salas, 31. He was captured at a walled property in the Sinaloa state capital of Culiacan last November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n