High-Ranking CJNG Operator 'El Caimán' Extradited to the US

"Morogris" for Borderland Beat

Old mug shot of a younger Edgar Alejandro Herrera Pardo (image credit: Zeta Tijuana)

The Attorney General's Office (FGR) confirmed that Edgar Herrera Pardo, also known as El Caiman (The Alligator) or Cabo 8, one of the leaders of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), has been extradited to the United States.

Herrera Pardo is believed to be closely associated with Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, the top leader of the CJNG.

Investigators say that Herrera was the main operator of the criminal group in Tijuana, Baja California, and responsible for importing large quantities of methamphetamine and heroin from Mexico into the United States.

He is facing drug trafficking charges in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego.

Edgar Herrera underwent the extradition procedure at a court based in the Federal Center for Social Readaptation Number 17 ("CPS Michoacan"), where he was also imprisoned for drug trafficking.

This morning, he was handed over to the designated US agents for his final transfer at the Toluca International Airport in the State of Mexico.

Profile

According to prosecutors, Edgar Herrera-Pardo was responsible for overseeing a faction of enforcers known as Los Cabos, whose mission was to control the Baja California corridor on behalf of the CJNG.

Los Cabos has seen a significant rise in influence in recent years and has been engaged in a fierce territorial battle with the Sinaloa Cartel over the lucrative smuggling route between Tijuana and San Diego border.

According to reports by Zeta Tijuana, Herrera operated under the late kingpin Arturo Gómez Herrera, also known as "El Gross," who was killed in Jalisco in 2016. It was further mentioned that Herrera used the alias El Zame and had been imprisoned in 2004 and 2010 for minor offenses.

Herrera, along with alleged associates Carlos Lorenzo Hinojosa Guerrero (alias Cabo 96) and Edgar Perez Villa (alias Cabo 89 or El Nier), face charges outlined in a superseding indictment issued by a San Diego federal grand jury in March 2020. This indictment is part of a broader prosecution involving 13 other individuals.

Additionally, a separate indictment from March 2021 charges Israel Alejandro Vazquez Vazquez (alias Cabo 50 or El Goofy) as the fourth alleged leader. The recently unsealed charges encompass conspiracy to import and distribute heroin and methamphetamine.

In August 2019, Herrera was apprehended along with his former girlfriend, a former beauty queen. At the time of his arrest, authorities said he was fighting the Tijuana turf against Sinaloa Cartel operator José Loreto Capoeman Rivera, alias El Versi.

He had been injured a month prior during a shootout where CJNG member Héctor Manuel Morales Guzmán, alias El Gallero, was killed. El Gallero was the alleged successor of Jose Perez Vargas, alias El Piolin. Herrera used a fake alias, Julio Alexander Franco Romo, to register at the hospital.

Herrera had connections with individuals such as Juan Hernández Quintero, also known as "El Juan Tortas" (arrested), Francisco Javier Gómez Hernández, also known as "Miguel Ángel Gómez Hernández"; Giovanni Ruanova Pantiga, known as "El Koreano” (arrested), and Israel Alejandro Vazquez-Vazquez.

Extradition sources: Telediario; 

Background sources: San Diego Tribune; Zeta Tijuana; (2); (3)

Court documents: Case Number 19CR1274-BAS; USAO - California, Southern