Meet the Kerry gangster called ‘Mexican Morris’ allegedly running part of world’s deadliest drugs cartel

EXCLUSIVE: Mr O’Shea and his mother and other family members came to Ireland around 2005 – after the death of his Kerry-born father in a car crash in Mexico.

This is the man who grew up in a picturesque Irish town – and is now alleged to have run part of the world’s most deadly drugs cartel.

An Irish Mirror investigation has established that Irish national Morris O’Shea Salazar – who spent more than a decade of his childhood in Killorglin, Co Kerry – is the man Chile cops want to extradite from Mexico to face charges of trying to establish a cell there for the massive Sinaloa cartel.

US drugs investigators say the cartel, based in Mexico, is the world’s biggest narco-terror group.

It was previously headed up by “El Chapo” Joaquin Guzman – once one of the world’s most dangerous criminals.

We have confirmed that Chile investigators are now planning to extradite Mr O’Shea from Mexico to face serious charges. They allege Mr O’Shea – who was nicknamed Mexican when he was growing up in Killorglin – has become a vital cog in the Sinaloa cartel.

And they want to charge him over an alleged plot to set up a so-called cell of the cartel in northern Chile in 2020 – when the world was in the group of the COVID pandemic.

Late last month, a court in Chile accepted the request of the Prosecutor’s Office to extradite Mr O’Shea, described as an “important member of the Sinaloa cartel” – and a dual Mexican-Irish national.

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.”

They described him in court documents as a dual Irish-Mexican citizen, and the son of Yolanda Salazar Tarriba who was arrested in 2021 for alleged 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, the documents said.

“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. Investigators allege that this operation was directed by Morris O’Shea who was living in Spain.

The Salazar-Tarriba gang 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.

We have established that Mr O’Shea and his mother and other family members came to Ireland around 2005 – after the death of his Kerry-born father in a car crash in Mexico.

They relocated to Killorglin – the town best known for the annual Puck Fair and where his father’s relatives lived.

We have discovered that the O’Shea Salazar family rented a council house for around a decade in the An Bhainseach estate, just outside the town – and was well known.

But former neighbours have told us the whole town has been in shock ever since news of his alleged role in the super cartel emerged in recent days.

One resident of the estate told us: “I knew him well enough. He was a young fella and was quite quiet.

“I know it is a cliché, but he did keep himself to himself. I saw the news about him being done in Mexico and could not believe it. Everyone in the town’s talking about it – it’s hard to believe.”

Other locals said they remembered the family from around a decade ago – and seemed quite normal.

“There was nothing that stood out about them at all- he was just a kid at the time. Everyone called him Mexican, that was his nickname. He was into fitness, I remember, and he was good at boxing.”

And another man who regularly interacted with Mr O’Shea said he could not believe he had alleged links to a cartel.

“He was just a bit of an eejit.

“I would have described him as innocent and well-meaning. I find it ludicrous for it to be alleged he was involved in cartel. It’s just silly. He was just a mad young fella.”

Locals said the family moved to Spain about a decade ago – but still maintained links to Kerry. “They were still in touch with people from the town on Facebook,” one said.

The Irish Mirror approached relatives of Mr O’Shea in the Killorglin area for comment – but they declined to talk.