WASHINGTON — A Santa Clara, California resident who helped establish one of Mexico’s most dangerous and brutal drug trafficking organizations entered a guilty plea Tuesday to federal narcotics conspiracy charges in U.S. court.
Erick Valencia Salazar, 49, created the Jalisco New Generation Cartel alongside Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the notorious drug kingpin called “El Mencho” who died during a confrontation with Mexican military forces in February.
Following his guilty plea in Washington, D.C. to one count of conspiring to distribute cocaine for importation into the United States, Valencia Salazar now faces a minimum prison term of 10 years and could receive life imprisonment. Chief Judge James Boasberg has set his sentencing date for July 31.
Before establishing the Jalisco cartel, Valencia Salazar belonged to the Milenio Cartel. He and Oseguera Cervantes later founded the organization known by its Spanish acronym CJNG. Federal prosecutors stated that hundreds of CJNG operatives answered to Valencia Salazar, whose responsibilities included bringing in new members and gathering intelligence about competing cartels.
After separating from “El Mencho,” Valencia Salazar, who went by the alias “El 85,” established his own criminal organization called La Nueva Plaza. Meanwhile, “El Mencho” continued leading the CJNG until his death.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva, who oversees the Justice Department’s criminal division, described the CJNG as having caused “immeasurable damage” 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, that helped destabilize the region and allow crime to flourish,” Duva said in a statement.
Federal grand jurors issued an indictment against Valencia Salazar on the conspiracy charge in 2018. This past February, Mexican officials transferred him to the United States as part of an initial group of 29 drug kingpins.
During President Donald Trump’s previous administration, officials classified the CJNG and other cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
Mexican authorities captured Valencia Salazar on two separate occasions. His first arrest occurred in 2012 when military forces detained him in Zapopan municipality, located near Guadalajara, which serves as the capital of Jalisco state.
A judge ordered his release from prison five years later, citing alleged procedural violations. In 2022, Army forces captured him again in Tapalpa, the same location where authorities apprehended and killed “El Mencho.”
The U.S. State Department had posted a reward of up to $5 million for information that would lead to Valencia Salazar’s arrest or conviction.
