Mexican cartel sicario, Michelle Angelica Pineda Valdez, aka ‘La Chely’, 22, was arrested FBI and U.S. Border Patrol in El Paso, Texas, on Thursday, Feb 15

Authorities raided her hotel and discovered guns, knives, machetes and an unspecified amount of drugs, including fentanyl powder and pills, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and Xanax

The La Chely accused of five murders, participating in 20 more, is a member of ‘Artistas Asesinos,’ an enforcement unit of the Sinaloa Cartel

State of Chihuahua AG’s office said Pineda’s criminal record dates to when she was just 13 years old – she has been running a drug trafficking ring in the Mexico-Texas border area for Artistas Asesinos

Pineda Valdez reportedly, unlawfully crossed the United States-Mexico border to avoid persecution in Mexico for connection three murders and suspicions of being involved in more than 20 other homicides

She’s notorious for dismembering victims, removing their hearts, which were placed on an altar in front of the Santa Muerte, the folk saint of Mexico’s death dealing narco culture

US agents transferred her custody to Police and State Attorney General’s Office of the state of Chihuahua Feb 16

Accused of orchestrating multiple murders, dismembering and cutting out the victims’ hearts, she was ordered held in in prison after two hearings before separate judges in Juárez, on Wednesday

Mexican cartel sicario Michelle Angelica Pineda Valdez, aka ‘La Chely’, [photo], 22, was arrested by the FBI and U.S. Border Patrol at an El Paso, Texas hotel last Thursday. She’s accused of five murders and participating in 20 others with members of the Artistas Asesinos, an affiliate of the Sinaloa Cartel, in the border city of Ciudad Juárez

A Mexican woman wanted for a string of gang murders and dismembering her victims was arrested at a motel in El Paso, Texas, last Thursday by the FBI and U.S. Border Patrol.
Michelle Angelica Pineda Valdez, aka ‘La Chely’, 22, was allegedly involved in five murders and suspected of playing a role in several other killings in the border town of Ciudad Juárez
Pineda Valdez reportedly, had crossed the border illegally to evade prosecution in Mexico in connection to three murders and suspicions of being involved in more than 20 other homicides. 
Pineda is notorious for dismembering her victims, removing their hearts, then placed on an altar in front of ‘Santa Muerte’, [Holy Death] – a Mexican folk saint seen as patron in the narco culture – typically depicted as a cloaked skeletal grim reaper in a blood soaked cloak.
The FBI discovered that Pineda, a Mexican citizen, allegedly running a drug trafficking ring in the Texas border area of Juárez, for ‘Artistas Asesinos’, had unlawfully crossed the United States-Mexico border Cartel. 
The ‘Artistas Asesinos’ street gang – is an enforcement unit for the notorious Sinaloa cartel.
‘La Chely’ Pineda Valdez appeared appeared in two separate hearings before different judges in Juárez, on Wednesday morning and afternoon
She’s accused of orchestrating multiple murders, dismembering and cutting out the victims’ hearts in some cases and remains in custody till her next court appearance on May 21.

Feds and local agents raiding the motel where Michelle ‘La Chely’ Pineda was staying recovered weapons and drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and Xanax

In the early hours of Feb 15, a combined team of federal and local authorities raided the motel in El Paso, Texas.
The raiding party confiscated a shotgun, revolver, knives and machetes along with an unknown quantity of fentanyl powder and pills, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and Xanax. 
After she was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Pineda was escorted to the border entry point by Border Patrol and FBI agents. Custody was then transferred to State Police and State Attorney General’s Office of Chihuahua.
‘Today’s deportation highlights the swift action of our agents and our significant partnerships by successfully taking a violent assassin off our streets and putting her back into the hands of Mexican law enforcement to be tried for her crimes,’ said John Morales, FBI El Paso special agent in charge. 
‘Working hand-in-hand with our partners whether in law enforcement, the private sector, and with foreign law enforcement agencies is paramount in order to keep people like Pineda from bringing violence and drugs into our lives and poisoning our communities.’

La Chely Pineda, [center], 22, described as ‘very versatile and operated on both sides of the border,’ was arrested in El Paso, Texas, last Thursday. U.S. Border Patrol and the FBI hand over La Chely,” to Mexican authorities at an international bridge in Downtown El Paso on Friday.

During the hearings on Wednesday, two Mexican judges said they have sufficient evidence to hold 22-year-old La Chely for trial.
In the morning she appeared before Chihuahua State District Judge Fabiola Dominguez for the Nov. 24, 2023, murders of a former prison cellmate and an Uber driver. She suspect sat quietly throughout the procedure as the judge reviewed evidence in the case.
Judge Dominguez gave prosecutors and defense attorneys to present evidence and supporting arguments in the multiple homicide case by May 21.
Pineda and her attorney did not challenge evidence presented Wednesday. Pineda only responded to ask for food, stating that she had only been fed pineapple juice all day and given a pill for morning sickness.
Asked by Dominguez if she was pregnant, she answered “Yes”. he then ordered the suspect be fed before her next hearing.
Appearing before a separate judge later Wednesday afternoon, she was ordered her to stand trial for a Dec. 5, 2023, homicide where the victim was dismembered, his heart placed in front of the figure of Santa Muerte.

Michelle Angelica Pineda Valdez, [photo], murder suspect and alleged cell leader of Juarez’s Artistas Asesinos or Doblados drug gang, appeared in court in Juárez, Mexico, on Feb 21, facing multiple counts of homicide

Pineda and Artistas Asesinos gang members reportedly murdered more than 20 people, whose bodies were dismembered and abandoned across Ciudad Juárez, according to the Chihuahua State Attorney General’s Office.
Pineda allegedly murdered a couple on November 24, 2023. Another male victim was killed December 5.
The male victim’s neck was cut and his body was dismembered at a home and placed in bags that were found strewn in the border city.
Carlos Salas, the attorney general in Chihuahua’s northern zone, says Pineda’s criminal record dates to when she was just 13 years old.
‘This young woman grew up surrounded by violence, both inside her home and outside,’ he said. The time came when she became involved with the Artistas Asesinos … a structure in which she escalated very quickly.’
‘She was a priority objective for both countries, as a member of the criminal group,’ Salas added. ‘She was very versatile and operated on both sides of the border, she knew in many cases when the police were nearby and she fled in a timely manner from the places where they were already located and almost about to be arrested.’

Alter to Santa Muerte [‘Holy Death’], patron saint of Mexico’s narco-underworld – typically with offerings of candy and liquor – She’is depicted as a cloaked skeletal grim reaper. Pineda, is known to have dismembered her victims, removing their hearts, then placed on an altar to Santa Muerte

Mexican media report that the heart offerings case in Juárez is a twist of dark spirituality entwined with the blood-soaked drug cartel-related violence and crime that have been a major problem in Mexico for decades.
“I’m seeing these drug traffickers who pray to Santa Muerte are becoming more bold,” one of Mexico’s leading experts on narco-saints, Robert Almonte, has said, adding that “The drug traffickers truly believe that no matter what they do in life, including cutting hearts out, beheading people, that they will go to heaven”.
“They are not afraid to die. They truly believe that because they worship Santa Muerte she will take them to heaven.”