Sinaloa Cartel: Irish branch led by Kelly faction flooded Ireland with cocaine

Exclusive access to classified intelligence files from Spanish police sunday world An inside look at the European branch of the Sinaloa cartel during the pandemic.

The documents show how the human trafficking network was controlled by an Irish-Mexican called Morris O’Shea Salazar. The 33-year-old managed to rise to the top of the Sinaloa Cartel despite growing up in Killorglin.

of sunday world The investigation could reveal how gardaí were aware of a large-scale cocaine operation and how the drugs were smuggled into Ireland through Dublin Port.

It also shows how to:

• O’Shea Salazar led a multi-million euro drug ring and lived a luxurious life in Barcelona with his attractive girlfriend.
• One of his lieutenants was a criminal (in his 40s) and his father was a well-known politician in County Kerry.
• Law enforcement officials believe the Sinaloa-Irish crew’s operation was as “lucrative” as Kinahan’s.

The crew, who answered directly to the son of notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman, conspired to smuggle up to 6,000kg of drugs into Europe in just one year.

At retail level, it costs an average of €80 per gram, potentially worth €480 million.

But despite the international scale of the cocaine ring, the Sinaloa cell had deep ties to a small corner of Ireland, using domestic criminals to smuggle drugs into Dublin.

Gardaí are understood to be aware of the scale and scope of the gang’s trafficking operations and its reach into Ireland.

Intelligence documents from Spain detail how Morris O’Shea Salazar, 33, a joint Irish-Mexican national, was in charge of the group’s cocaine trafficking ring.

O’Shea Salazar was born in Mexico but grew up and attended school in Killorglin, Co. Kerry.

O’Shea Salazar is currently wanted in Chile in connection with a human trafficking ring, where he is currently in prison along with his mother and uncle. Chilean officials said he was an “important member of the Sinaloa cartel.”

A tip-off from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration made him a target of Europol.

today, sunday world For the first time, it can be revealed how O’Shea Salazar’s huge operation was uncovered by Spanish police and how Ireland was a key destination for his cocaine shipments. The cocaine was purchased by the Sinaloa cartel in Bolivia and then brought across the border into Chile by O’Shea Salazar’s crew.

Spain’s anti-narcotics prosecutor’s office wrote: “The Guardia Civil’s organized crime and anti-narcotics defense team has submitted a report on a criminal group led by Morris Orr involved in the trafficking of large quantities of cocaine from South America to Spain.” . Sia Salazar…it’s clear that they intend to bring a large amount of drugs into Europe through Spain, 6,000 kilograms of cocaine. ”

It was then smuggled into Europe and later distributed to the Netherlands, England and Ireland. O’Shea Salazar’s surgery in Chile was run by his own mother, Yolanda, and his uncle, Ricardo.

Kelly’s politician son, whose name cannot be published for legal reasons, is also a major figure in the gang and answered directly to O’Shea Salazar. The man, who is in his 40s and is known to gardaí, is currently posing as a legitimate businessman.

​The secret files contain details of the encrypted messages that were hacked, as well as details of three large shipments that are suspected to have landed in Dublin.

They detail how a major cocaine shipment arrived at Dublin Port on June 16, 2020.

Meanwhile, another cargo was transported from the Chilean port of Valpraiso on the large container ship MSC Madhu. The shipment departed on May 17, 2020 and arrived in Dublin the following month.

The third container bound for Dublin departed South America on May 9th, transited through Antwerp on MSC Aino, and arrived in Dublin on June 12th, 2020.

The Spanish police file is based in part on information gleaned from the now-famous Encrochat hack.

Encrochat, an encrypted mobile phone service used by criminals, was hacked by Europol, resulting in 6,558 arrests across the continent.

Encrypted messages show how the intermediary paid O’Shea Salazar 590,000 euros for the bulk price of a single container.

The Killorglin man forwarded an image of the cash to his uncle Ricardo in Chile, saying: “I have money for Chapito.”

Ricardo Salazar and his sister Yolanda O’Shea Salazar, Morris’ mother, were sentenced to 23 years in prison in Iquique last year for organizing a drug shipment.

Their trial heard how a Bolivian supplier sent O’Shea Salazar’s uncle Ricardo a total of 350 kilograms of cocaine to Chile on October 28 and December 9, 2020.

Chile’s criminal court also heard how Ricardo and Yolanda orchestrated the shipment of more than a ton of drugs to Europe in the first quarter of 2021.

In March 2021, Yolanda and Ricardo were detained at a Chilean airport as they tried to board a flight to Mexico. Five mobile phones, an electronic tablet and cash were seized.

Large container ships MSC Chloe, MSC Bianca and MSC Elma also arrived at various European ports (Antwerp, Valencia, Liverpool, Bilbao and Malaga) with cocaine in the summer of 2020.

At least three Irish truck drivers were paid €15,000 per trip to transport containers by road to Ireland, confidential EncroChat files have revealed.

Cocaine was hidden in both wet and dry cargo. fruits and fish. After the cocaine was extracted on arrival, the gang burned the remaining merchandise.

Passenger planes operated by KLM, Iberia and Air France were unwittingly being used to smuggle 50kg of cocaine per round trip from South American airports.

The DEA, Spanish police, and Chilean law authorities all named Morris O’Shea Salazar, a former welfare recipient, as the gang’s leader. He is suspected of running the cartel’s logistics operations from a luxury apartment in Barcelona.

The Irish crew also includes a 39-year-old Liverpool native and Kerry’s politician son, both of whom are said to be in charge of finance and distribution.

O’Shea Salazar’s partner Kelly also provided grenades and magnum guns to various buyers at a price of approximately 2,300 euros each, the filing states.

The pair were under close surveillance by Spanish police while visiting various hotels in the Balearic Islands. The Irish men are said to have been organizing logistics and vehicle repairs at truck stops across Europe during the summer of 2020.

Each member had their own encrochat identity, including three Irish truck drivers who went by the names “BB,” “Owlbetty,” and “Ironic Sugar.”

O’Shea called himself “Sin City Gold.” The Scouser called himself ‘Rough Diamond’, while his right-hand man from Kerry called himself ‘Cú Chulainn’.

Other gang members include ‘Dior 6’, ‘Pure Love’, ‘Notorious Cleaner’ and ‘Milito’. These gang members were based where new port terminals were opened, such as Pier 188 in Antwerp, Liverpool, and Valencia.

In intercepted messages, the Irish-Sinaloa crew said they “owned” this new facility in Valencia.

Chilean authorities have now issued an extradition warrant for O’Shea Salazar and are naming him in court proceedings.

Journalist Jorge Molina said: “The operation carried out by the Chilean public prosecutor’s office, in coordination with Spain and the DEA, is of a rare level.”

A Chilean investigative reporter who worked with Sunday World during the investigation said the Sinaloa gang members involved were “deceived.”

He has written a book on the subject, “Chile Narcos,” in which he says Killorglin’s kingpin is now hiding out in “mariachi country.”

“Ricardo Salazar Taliba was infiltrated before entering Chile.

“His Irish nephew Morris O’Shea, the operational arm of Spain’s Sinaloa cartel, was located and even photographed in his personal network, along with accomplices of other nationalities.

“If the drug transport operation had gone completely according to plan, it is likely that they would have settled in Bolivia.

“Chile has requested the extradition of Mr. O’Shea from Mexico. The question is whether they can find him. Mexico is a very large country and there are areas where drug traffickers control everything,” he said. said.

Secret files list the names of a number of companies used to transport cocaine, particularly to Ireland.

The cartel used some large companies as a “green channel,” arguing that “large quantities of products facilitated the introduction of cocaine.”

Nestlé was “unwittingly used to transport cocaine from the port of Santos to Valencia, because the company’s containers have not been searched for 20 years and have never been inspected as it is a green channel.” It is from the body.”

Green channel goods are classified as goods that are released for export as soon as they are declared to meet standard criteria.

morris o’shea salazar and his Liverpool-based partner had discussed using Valencia’s port terminal to transport drugs to Spain, where they expected to have “complete control”.