Joe Biden thanked Mexican authorities and law enforcement on Thursday after the arrest of “El Nini,” a suspected trafficker of fentanyl, the synthetic drug that is wreaking havoc in the United States.
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“I would like to thank (Mexican President Andres Manuel) Lopez Obrador, the Mexican army and special forces for the capture of El Nini and recognize the brave men and women of the Mexican security forces who carried out this operation,” the American president said in a statement Press release.
Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, aka “El Nini,” is close to the sons of drug lord Joaquin Guzman, aka “El Chapo,” who is serving a life sentence in the United States. He was arrested in Culiacán, in the northwest of the country.
The man “was one of the most wanted criminals in Mexico and the United States for three years,” Joe Biden said, adding: “Both our countries are safer now that he is behind bars.”
The 81-year-old Democrat, who vowed to fight fentanyl trafficking, recalled that this year another leader of the same group of drug traffickers called “Chapitos,” Ovidio Guzman Lopez, was arrested.
The name “Chapitos” refers to the sons of drug lord Joaquin Guzman, also known as “El Chapo,” who is serving a life sentence in the United States.
Joe Biden and his Mexican counterpart promised at a meeting on November 17 in San Francisco to work more closely together against drug trafficking and especially against fentanyl.
This powerful synthetic opiate is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths each year in the United States.
The drug, often made from products sourced from China, is being imported into the United States by Mexican cartels, particularly the Sinaloa Cartel, according to Washington.