Jailed Jalisco Cartel Founding Member Fights Extradition to U.S.

The founding member of one of Mexico’s most violent criminal organizations is fighting efforts by authorities to extradite him to the U.S. where he faces multiple drug and money laundering conspiracy charges. If convicted the charges could net him a life term in prison.

Known in the criminal underworld as El 85, Erick Valencia Salazar is credited with having founded Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) along with Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes and Martin “53” Arzola Ortega, Infobae reported. The U.S. Department of Justice offered a $5 million reward for his capture.

Mexico’s military arrested Valencia this week in a quiet raid in a small town in Jalisco. General Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, the head of Mexico’s General Staff announced the arrest this week claiming it had been a joint effort between the Mexican Army, the National Guard, and other local agencies. Authorities arrested Valencia without any violence after finding him and two other men with weapons and drugs.

The version of events presented by Mexico’s military has been put into question by a series of injunctions filed by Valencia’s attorneys in an attempt to stop his extradition to the U.S. According to Infobae, Valencia’s attorneys claim in their filings that the arrest took place one day before when military officers “kidnapped” the drug lord.

While Valencia and Oseguera Cervantes were allies at the beginning, the two became bitter rivals. After establishing CJNG, Mexican authorities blamed Valencia for the mass killing of 35 rivals that his gunmen left in the streets of Veracruz in early 2011. Months later, Mexican authorities arrested Valencian in March 2012 in the city of Zapopan, Jalisco. After the arrest his gunmen, he spread terror in the region by torching vehicles, setting up blockades, and clashing with authorities.

Five years later, in 2017, a judge in Mexico released Valencia claiming that there was not enough evidence linking him to any crimes, Infobae reported. After his release, Valencia blamed El Mencho for allegedly helping authorities find him for that initial arrest.

Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities.  The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “C.P Mireles” from Tamaulipas and “L.P. Contreras” from Mexico City.