Suspected assassin for Sinaloa drug cartel known as "El Nini" extradited to U.S.

A suspected top assassin in Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel was extradited Saturday to the United States, where he will face charges linked to drug and weapons smuggling, the Justice Department announced.

Nestor Isidro Perez Salas, known as "El Nini," was one of the Sinaloa Cartel's "lead sicarios, or assassins, and was responsible for the murder, torture and kidnapping of rivals and witnesses who threatened the cartel's criminal drug trafficking enterprise," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement after the extradition Saturday morning.

"We also allege El Nini was a part of the Sinaloa Cartel's production and sale of fentanyl, including in the United States," Garland said.