Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Jesus Ricardo Patron Sanchez, aka “H-3,” Allegedly Led Ruthless Transnational Criminal Organization Responsible for Distributing Thousands of Kilograms of Narcotics and Multiple Murders
Jesus Ricardo Patron Sanchez, also known as “H-3,” “Diabolic,” “Vela,” “James Bond” and “Xmen,” was arraigned on February 22, 2025 at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn on an indictment charging him with leading a continuing criminal enterprise, participating in a large-scale narcotics distribution conspiracy and using one or more firearms in connection with narcotic offenses. Sanchez, a Mexican citizen, was arrested in Mexico in February 2019 on a provisional arrest warrant issued based upon charges in the Eastern District of New York and subsequently extradited from Mexico to the United States on February 21, 2025. The arraignment was held before United States Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo. Sanchez was ordered detained pending trial.
John J. Durham, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Matthew Allen, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Los Angeles Field Division which oversees the Las Vegas District Office (DEA), announced the extradition and arraignment.
“As alleged in the indictment and court filings, Sanchez was one of the principal leaders of the H-2 Drug Trafficking Organization, a brutally violent transnational criminal organization that flooded American streets with dangerous drugs and protected its operations through murder and corruption,” stated United States Attorney Durham. “This Office is committed to working with its federal and international partners to bring leaders of cartels and transnational criminal organizations to justice in the United States and to hold them accountable for the death and destruction they have unleashed here and abroad.”
Mr. Durham extended his appreciation to the DEA’s offices in Las Vegas and Mexico City, Mexico, the United States Marshals Service, the United States Department of State, the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and the Government of Mexico. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in Mexico to secure the arrest and extradition of Sanchez.
“Our country is facing an unprecedented drug crisis. Violent drug trafficking organizations, like H-2, fueled by unrelenting and callous greed have been saturating our communities with poison, death, and chronic devastation,” stated DEA Special Agent in Charge Allen. “The DEA continues its unwavering determination to mitigate this evil and eradicate their terror and corruption from our streets.”
According to the indictment and court filings, Sanchez was a leader of the H-2 Drug Trafficking Organization (the H-2 DTO), a violent Mexican drug trafficking organization based in Nayarit and Sinaloa, Mexico. Sanchez’s alias “H-3” is a reference to his status as a successor to Hector Beltran-Leyva, the original “H” and one of the principal leaders of the Beltran Leyva Cartel that was previously part of the Sinaloa Cartel. The H-2 DTO was previously led by the defendant’s brother, Juan Francisco Patron Sanchez, also known as “H-2.” Based on public reporting, after Juan Francisco Patron Sanchez was killed in 2017, the defendant assumed principal leadership over the H-2 DTO. The H-2 DTO had numerous distribution cells in the United States, including in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Ohio, Minnesota, North Carolina and New York. The DEA estimates that between January 2013 and February 2017, the H-2 DTO distributed, on a monthly basis, hundreds of kilograms of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine, and thousands of kilograms of marijuana into the United States and earned millions of dollars in illegal proceeds in return. In furtherance of its drug trafficking operation, the H-2 DTO used firearms and physical violence and is associated with numerous homicides.
Between June 2013 and December 2016, the defendant was one of the principal leaders of the H-2 DTO and directed the distribution of large quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana from Mexico into various parts of the United States, including the Eastern District of New York. The defendant also coordinated the money laundering activities of other members of the H-2 DTO to ensure the proceeds of their drug trafficking were transferred back to Mexico. In addition, he conspired with other leaders and members of the H-2 DTO to kill members of rival drug trafficking organizations and other individuals perceived as threats to the H-2 DTO.
The extradition of Sanchez is the result of an ongoing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the DEA. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted of the continuing criminal enterprise count, the defendant faces a mandatory life sentence; the defendant faces up to a life sentence on the other counts of the indictment.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Andrew D. Wang and Raffaela S. Belizaire are in charge of the prosecution.
The Defendant:
JESUS RICARDO PATRON SANCHEZ (also known as “H-3,” “Diabolic,” “Vela,” “James Bond” and “Xmen”)
Age: 39
Mexico
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 16-CR-241 (S-2) (CBA)