Jesus Ricardo Patron Sanchez, known by various aliases including "H-3," was arraigned on February 22, 2025, in Brooklyn's federal court. The charges against him include leading a criminal enterprise and participating in a large-scale narcotics distribution conspiracy. His extradition from Mexico to the United States occurred on February 21, 2025. U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo presided over the arraignment where Sanchez was ordered detained pending trial.
The announcement of his extradition and arraignment came from John J. Durham, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, alongside Matthew Allen, Special Agent in Charge at the DEA's Los Angeles Field Division.
"As alleged in the indictment and court filings, Sanchez was one of the principal leaders of the H-2 Drug Trafficking Organization," stated Attorney Durham. He highlighted that this organization is "a brutally violent transnational criminal organization" responsible for flooding American streets with dangerous drugs.
Durham acknowledged various agencies' roles in securing Sanchez’s arrest and extradition, including DEA offices in Las Vegas and Mexico City, as well as several U.S. government departments and Mexican authorities.
DEA Special Agent Allen emphasized the severity of drug trafficking issues: "Our country is facing an unprecedented drug crisis." He reiterated DEA's commitment to addressing these challenges by stating their determination to "mitigate this evil."
According to court documents, Sanchez led the H-2 Drug Trafficking Organization after his brother Juan Francisco Patron Sanchez’s death in 2017. The group operated primarily out of Nayarit and Sinaloa, Mexico but had distribution cells across multiple U.S. states.
From June 2013 to December 2016, Sanchez allegedly directed significant quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana into parts of the United States while also coordinating money laundering activities linked to these operations.
This case results from an ongoing investigation by Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), focusing on dismantling serious drug trafficking networks through collaboration among various law enforcement agencies.
While charges remain allegations until proven otherwise, if convicted on specific counts like continuing criminal enterprise involvement, Sanchez faces mandatory life imprisonment sentences.
The prosecution team handling this case comprises Assistant U.S Attorneys Andrew D. Wang and Raffaela S. Belizaire under EDNY’s International Narcotics & Money Laundering Section.