LatinNews Daily - 04 December 2023

Mexico: On 23 November US President Joe Biden issued a statement thanking Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the Mexican army and special forces for capturing Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas ‘El Nini’, the alleged head of security for the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa drug trafficking organisation (DTO). Pérez was arrested on 22 November in Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state. In the press release President Biden stated that Pérez had been one of the US’ most wanted criminals for three years for his role in perpetrating violence and in trafficking illicit fentanyl into the US. The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) had offered US$3m for information leading to his capture. Biden said that “both our countries are safer with him behind bars and facing justice for his crimes” and described the arrest as “testament to the commitment between the United States and Mexico to secure our communities against violence”. The arrest comes amid efforts to step up the fight against the illegal fentanyl trade. In his statement, Biden also noted the extradition in September of Ovidio Guzmán López, the son of Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán Loera and one of the alleged leaders of Los Chapitos from Mexico to the US. The arrest also follows a meeting between Biden and López Obrador on 17 November on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in San Francisco. On 21 November Biden held a meeting with US officials to accelerate efforts to counter the flow of fentanyl into the US through its southern border. In a social media post about the meeting, the US White House noted that fentanyl is the leading cause of death of Americans aged 18-45.

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