- Edgar Alejandro Herrera Pardo, a leading figure in Mexico’s CJNG cartel, has been extradited to the United States.
- Known as El Caiman, Edgar Alejandro is implicated in a wave of violence and drug trafficking in Tijuana.
- Edgar Alejandro’s extradition highlights the ongoing cooperation between Mexican and US authorities to combat drug cartels.
Mexican authorities have announced the extradition of Edgar Alejandro Herrera Pardo, known by the monikers El Caimán and El Cabo 8. Identified as one of the key operators of the Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG) in Tijuana, Baja California, Edgar Alejandro is one of the leaders of the brutal criminal group Los Cabos, the armed faction of the CJNG. The extradition was carried out to the United States, where the U.S. District Court wanted him for the Southern District of California.
Edgar Alejandro’s crimes include criminal association and offenses against health, according to the Mexican Attorney General’s Office (FGR). Furthermore, he is recognized as one of the “closest men” to Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, better known as El Mencho, in Tijuana, Baja California. The FGR apprehended El Caimán in August 2019 in San Luis Potosi, along with his model girlfriend, a former Red Cross Maine beauty pageant contestant.
Edgar Alejandro’s arrest followed the release of two arrest warrants by a control judge specialized in the Accusatory Criminal System, associated with the Federal Justice Center in the state of Jalisco. Both Edgar Herrera and his girlfriend are implicated in the CJNG. Edgar Alejandro, or El Cabo 8, was subsequently delivered to the US agents for his final transfer on August 2 at the Toluca International Airport.
El Cabo 8 is a prominent figure within Los Cabos, a criminal cell that serves as the armed branch of the Cartel of the Four Letters in Baja California. This cell is embroiled in a territorial dispute and drug trafficking competition with the Tijuana Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel. US authorities have attributed a surge in violence in recent years to Los Cabos, as the group sought to guarantee that the CJNG could continue drug trafficking from the border city of Tijuana to San Diego, United States.
In an intercepted group chat room communication among Los Cabos leaders, US authorities reported that the top four ringleaders plotted over 150 murders within a six-month period, the majority of which occurred in Tijuana. Carlos Lorenzo Hinojosa Guerrero (El Cabo 96), Edgar Perez Villa (El Cabo 89), and Israel Alejandro Vazquez-Vazquez (El Cabo 50) are among the other leaders of this criminal cell, as revealed by a US investigation.
Notably, the CJNG’s violent armed wing is also implicated in the 2018 murder of two US citizen teenagers in Tijuana. As stated in a report issued on June 14, 2021, “These teenagers were residents of Chula Vista, California. The government also alleges that Los Cabos attacked law enforcement in Tijuana and killed at least three police officers.”
Moreover, the group Semanario Zeta has claimed that Los Cabos is responsible for firing at their facilities as an intimidation tactic. This incident occurred after the publication of images of the group and some of its accomplices on the front page of the media outlet in November 2016, an action orchestrated by El Cabo 50.
Presently, the four ringleaders of Los Cabos are under US investigation for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances for importation and conspiracy to import controlled substances. Edgar Alejandro Herrera was subject to extradition proceedings within the Federal Center for Social Readaptation No. 17 CPS Michoacán due to criminal charges against him for crimes against health. The Attorney General’s Office has confirmed that El Cabo 8 was surrendered to the designated U.S. agents for his final transfer on August 2 at the Toluca International Airport.