SEATTLE — A shipment of liquid methamphetamine hidden inside candles is at the center of a federal drug case that brought a Mexico-based cartel-connected leader to a Seattle courtroom this week.
Jose Luis Sanchez-Valencia, 58, was arraigned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Seattle after being transferred from Mexico last month. A federal grand jury indicted him in 2022 on four felony counts, including conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and three counts of illegal use of a communication facility.
He pleaded not guilty. Trial is scheduled for April 20 before U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour…