The Mexico-based leader of a violent drug trafficking organization was arraigned on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Seattle following his transfer from Mexico, according to an announcement by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd.
Jose Luis Sanchez-Valencia, 58, was transported from Mexico to the United States last month. The indictment for four federal felonies was returned in 2022. Sanchez-Valencia is charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and three counts of illegal use of a communication facility, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice. Sanchez-Valencia entered a plea of “not guilty,” and trial was set in front of U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour on April 20.
“This defendant was the cartel-connected leader of a violent drug trafficking ring operating in the South Puget Sound region,” Floyd said in the release. “His telephone calls link him to the conspiracy and to a local leader who was shot outside a Kitsap County stash house. Our goal in these investigations is to bring the leaders to justice. Whether they are here in Washington or abroad, they are pulling the strings for the cartels that profit at the cost of human lives in our community.”…