Chile Requests the Extradition of Morris O'Shea-Salazar, an Irish-Mexican Relative of "El Chapo's" First Wife

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

This week, a court in Chile accepted the request of the Prosecutor's Office to extradite Morris O’Shea Salazar,  described as an “important member of the Sinaloa cartel.” The agency claims his cell would import cocaine from Bolivia, which would be “collected in the commune of Alto Hospicio, and shipped to various ports and airports in Europe, in countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain."

According to the Chilean Prosecutor's Office, Irish passport holder O’Shea Salazar has now become a major player in the international drug scene. O'Shea, who is currently located in Mexico, allegedly tried to send a shipment of cocaine from Bolivia from the northern city of Iquique to Europe. He had previously been operating in Spain.

Chilean officials have described Morris O'Shea as a dual Irish-Mexican citizen, and the son of Yolanda Salazar Tarriba who was arrested in 2021 for illicit drug trafficking. O’Shea Salazar has ties directly to "El Chapo" through the Mexican Cartel leader’s first wife María Alejandrina Salazar Hernández, the mother of "Los Chapitos" Iván Archivaldo, and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar.

"They are related to the Sinaloa Cartel [and] are close relatives of Chapo Guzmán," National Prosecutor Jorge Abbott told the media this week. Yolanda Salazar Tarriba and her brother Ricardo Salazar Tarriba are said to have arrived in Chile in 2020 to coordinate the purchase of cocaine from Bolivia and its subsequent shipment abroad. According to the investigation, this operation was directed by Morris O'Shea who was living in Spain.

The Salazar-Tarriba family was infiltrated by the Chilean Civil Police after information provided by the DEA. This is how they deceived that they would collaborate to send millions of drugs to the Netherlands, where the transnational crime group has links.

According to investigations, Ricardo entered the country in 2020 and moved through Iquique and Santiago. But he had a surgical problem that led him to undergo surgery at a private center known as Clínica Santa María. Faced with this difficulty, Yolanda arrived in December of the same year and she was partially in charge of the operation.

Supposedly, the undercover officers secured a false shipment that was transported by sea to the Netherlands and arrived there on March 5. Everything was documented to find out how the criminal organization worked and not cause suspicion.

In Europe, the container was searched by the authorities and then the alleged members of the Sinaloa Cartel gave up their business and tried to escape from Chile. But they were detained at the Santiago airport on March 10, 2021.

The Chilean Prosecutor's Office carried out investigations on the Sinaloa Cartel between 2012 and 2015, but no incursions were located and no further reports were disclosed. Until September of last year, the intentions of the criminal group to expand as a starting point towards Europe, but also in local drug dealing, were recognized.

“Chile stopped being a drug transit country; in fact, widely known cartels from Mexico are trying to establish themselves in Chile, ”Jorge Abbott declared at the time, presenting the latest report from the Observatory on Drug Trafficking in Chile.

During Ricardo and Yolanda Salazar Tarriba's stay in the country, they acquired a little more than 665 kilos of cocaine which was due to be sent to Europe as a sample for potential buyers. In March 2021, Ricardo and Yolanda Salazar Tarriba were arrested and charged as they attempted to flee Chile.

However, prosecutors claim it was not possible to detain Morris O'Shea, despite “coordination” between the Chilean Prosecutor's Office and the Spanish Civil Guard. For this reason, the Tarapacá Prosecutor's Office requested that an extradition request be filed against him, and it was “formalized in absentia” for the crimes of illicit drug trafficking and illicit association.

Source Sunday World, Infobae, Borderland Beat