U.S. federal officials to seek extradition of top Sinaloa drug cartel leader

by Adriana Gómez Licón \ El Paso Times
Posted: 02/11/2011 12:43:49 AM MST



Federal officials in El Paso said on Thursday they will seek the extradition of a top Sinaloa drug cartel leader arrested last weekend in central Mexico with the help U.S. Marshals.

Adán Salazar Zamorano, 67, is wanted in El Paso on charges of conspiracy to traffic cocaine. The quantity is not known yet.

Mexico's Attorney General announced his arrest in Querétaro earlier this week.

A federal judge in Mexico on Tuesday ordered to detain Salazar for 40 days at the organized-crime division of the attorney general's office until prosecutors gathered more evidence to charge him.

The attorney general said Salazar led "Los Salazar," a powerful cell that directly reports to JoaquÃ*n "El Chapo" Guzmán, the alleged leader of the violent Sinaloa drug cartel, which is entangled in a war with the Juárez cartel over lucrative corridors into the U.S in the El Paso area.

Salazar is suspected of smuggling cocaine into the United States through northwestern Mexico for Guzmán, who is one of the most elusive drug leaders in Mexico, officials said. Salazar's territory covers the border state of Sonora, across Arizona, to the states of Chihuahua and Durango.

Although the U.S. government wants to extradite Salazar, it is not clear whether Mexico will grant it or choose to prosecute him.

But both governments worked together to catch Salazar.

Robert Almonte, the U.S. Marshal of the Western District of Texas, said marshals worked with Mexican authorities to locate Salazar and arrest him. "The warrant is actually in our possession," Almonte said.

Almonte said Salazar is a high-level member of the Sinaloa cartel with "upper-command responsibilities." The Mexican government does not have Salazar as a wanted criminal.

Salazar is in the fugitives list of the Drug Enforcement Administration's El Paso division along with his son, Jesús Alfredo Salazar RamÃ*rez, 37. DEA spokeswoman Diana Apodaca said her agency issued the arrest warrant for Salazar Zamorano, who was indicted in the Western District of Texas. His indictment remains sealed.

The DEA said Salazar Zamorano is of Chinipas, a town in the southwestern tip of Chihuahua state.

Salazar Zamorano, also known as "Don Adán," was based in the state of Chihuahua and traveled in a private jet throughout Mexico. At least two Sinaloa cartel associates have been captured in the past few months.

High-ranking Sinaloa cartel leader Ignacio Coronel was killed by the Mexican Army on July 29, 2010, in Zapopan, Jalisco, during a shootout. Meanwhile, Guzmán and his closest ally Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada in the Sinaloa drug cartel, remain at large.

The U.S. government has offered a $5 million reward each for Guzmán's and Zambada's capture.

Adriana Gómez Licón may be reached at agomez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6129.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/juarez/ci_17353347