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Irishman accused of being Sinaloa Cartel boss was ‘troubled child’ in Kerry

It is understood his father comes from the Killorglin area and died in Mexico

Kerryman

Today at 12:00

A man allegedly linked to one of the world’s most notorious south American drugs gangs formerly led by the infamous ‘El Chapo’, grew up in Co Kerry and appeared before court there as a teenager.

Morris O’Shea Salazar – who spent some of his youth in Killorglin – is wanted in Chile to face charges of trying to establish a ‘cell’ for the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organisation in the world – the Sinaloa Cartel.

The Irish-Mexican passport holder appeared in Killorglin District Court on several charges including possession of a firearm as a teenager.

It is understood his father comes from the Killorglin area and died in Mexico. Morris O’Shea moved to Killorglin after his father’s death.

He is a former student of Killorglin Community College where he attended for a few years and lived in An Bhainseach housing estate in the town.

Locals described Morris O’Shea as “a troubled child” and attempts had been made to support him in any way possible during his time there.

The Kerryman also understands that Mr O’Shea did get into trouble while in Ireland and was before the courts in Kerry in the late 2000s on a number of charges. He was in his late teens at the time.

According to the court report in The Kerryman, he served a month in prison for the alleged offences following agreement with the court and his solicitor Pádraig O’Connell said that Mr O’Shea had learnt a “salutary lesson”. He was also placed on a strict curfew.

Mr O’Connell this week said that Mr O’Shea “was an affable, pleasant man and not an ‘eejit’ as had been widely reported.”

In recent weeks, a court in Chile accepted the request of the Prosecutor’s Office to extradite Mr O’Shea Salazar who is described as an “important member of the Sinaloa cartel.”

The Sinaloa Cartel, regarded as one of the world’s most dangerous narco-trafficking gangs, was previously headed up by Joaquin Guzman, better known as El Chapo, who is serving a life sentence plus 30 years in the most secure prison in the United States in Colorado.

According to the Chilean Prosecutor’s Office, O’Shea Salazar has now become a major player in the international drugs mob.

Chilean officials have said he has ties directly to El Chapo through the Mexican Cartel leader’s first wife María Alejandrina Salazar Hernández.

O’Shea Salazar is currently based in Mexico but previously lived in Spain.