Man who co-founded Mexican drug cartel with ‘El Mencho’ pleads guilty in US to conspiracy charge
WASHINGTON (AP) — A California man who was a co-founder of one of Mexico’s most powerful and violent drug cartels pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal narcotics conspiracy charge.
Erick Valencia Salazar founded the Jalisco New Generation Cartel with drug lord Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho”. Killed by Mexican army In February.
Valencia Salazar, 49, of Santa Clara, California, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison after pleading guilty in Washington, D.C., to a charge of conspiring to distribute cocaine for U.S. importation. Chief Judge James Boasberg is scheduled to sentence him on July 31.
Valencia Salazar was a member of the Milenio Cartel before founding the Jalisco cartel, known by its Spanish acronym CJNG, with Oseguera Cervantes. Hundreds of CJNG members reported to Valencia Salazar, whose duties were to obtain information on and recruit the cartel’s rivals. prosecutors said.
Valencia Salazar, also known as “El 85”, founded his own cartel, La Nueva Plaza, after parting ways with “El Mencho”, who led the CJNG until his death.
A. Tysen Duva, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s criminal division, said the CJNG caused “immeasurable harm” to the United States
“Valencia Salazar was also responsible for furthering the rampant violence in Mexico at the expense of people’s lives and the safety of communities, resulting in the destabilization of the region and increased crime,” Duva said in a statement.
a grand jury A lawsuit was filed against Valencia Salazar on conspiracy charges in 2018. In February 2025, Mexican authorities sent him to the United States as part of the first group of 29 drug lords.
Last year, President Donald Trump’s administration designated the CJNG and other cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
Valencia Salazar was arrested twice in Mexico. He was first detained by the army in 2012 in the Zapopan municipality near Guadalajara, the capital of the state of Jalisco.
He was released from prison five years later by a judge’s decision, citing alleged procedural flaws. In 2022, the Army recaptured him in the town of Tapalpa, where “El Mencho” was captured and killed.
The US State Department had offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Valencia Salazar.
___
Associated Press writer Fabiola Sanchez in Mexico City contributed to this report.
