A Mexican drug cartel leader, Jesus Ricardo Patron Sanchez, has been extradited from Mexico to New York City to face federal charges related to drug trafficking. Sanchez, also known as 'Diobolical,' 'Xmen,' and 'James Bond,' was the alleged head of the H-2 drug cartel, described as 'brutally violent.'
The H-2 drug trafficking organization, originating from the Sinaloa drug cartel, operated out of Nayarit and Sinaloa, Mexico. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has highlighted the significant role of cartels like Sinaloa and Jalisco in the ongoing drug crisis in the U.S., with the flow of fentanyl and methamphetamine across the border.
Prosecutors claim that under Sanchez's leadership, H-2 trafficked cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine into the U.S. monthly from 2013 to 2016. The cartel utilized distribution cells in various states, including New York, Las Vegas, North Carolina, Ohio, and Los Angeles, to distribute large quantities of drugs.
Sanchez allegedly directed the killing of members of rival drug trafficking organizations and orchestrated a money-laundering operation to transfer profits back to Mexico. The DEA estimates that H-2 distributed significant amounts of illicit drugs, earning millions of dollars and committing numerous homicides from 2013 to 2017.
Sanchez, a Mexican citizen, was arrested in Mexico in 2019 and extradited to Brooklyn, New York, in 2025. He has been arraigned on charges including leading a criminal enterprise, participating in a narcotics distribution conspiracy, and using firearms in connection with drug offenses. If convicted, Sanchez faces a mandatory life sentence.
DEA Special Agent in Charge Matthew Allen emphasized the severity of the drug crisis, attributing it to violent drug-trafficking organizations like H-2 that have been saturating communities with drugs, death, and devastation.
