Erick Valencia Salazar, identified as “El 85,” formalized a plea agreement with U.S. authorities on April 7, 2026, regarding the trafficking of cocaine from Mexico into the United States. The defendant, a native of Jalisco, collaborated with criminals Ignacio Coronel Villarreal and Óscar Nava Valencia, and played a role in founding the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación), according to federal court records in Washington.
Valencia Salazar was a member of the Millennium Cartel before he and Oseguera Cervantes founded the Jalisco Cartel—known by its Spanish acronym, CJNG. Valencia Salazar, also known as “El 85,” went on to form his own cartel, La Nueva Plaza, after breaking ties with “El Mencho,” who led the CJNG until his death.
A. Tysen Duva, the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, stated that the CJNG has inflicted “immeasurable harm” upon the United States.
“Valencia Salazar was also responsible for fueling rampant violence in Mexico—at the cost of human lives and community safety—thereby contributing to the destabilization of the region and enabling crime to flourish,” Duva said in a statement.
