A Sinaloa Cartel-linked trafficker and Mexican citizen was sentenced to 57 months in a federal prison in Billings, Montana, last week after pleading guilty in January to possession with the intent to distribute approximately 34 pounds of methamphetamine. Two other defendants have pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
U.S. District Judge Susan Watters sentenced Jorge Luis Mendez-Sanchez, 35, a Mexican citizen to 57 months in federal prison and five years of supervised release for his role in a drug conspiracy, according to a media release. Mendez-Sanchez’s guilty plea was the result of a joint investigation by the Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, which resulted in the seizure of 34 pounds of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $1.5 million dollars.
According to court records, investigators learned in July 2018 from a confidential informant that a source of methamphetamine by the name of “Oscar” had a relative flying into Billings from Salt Lake City to complete a sale of approximately 35 pounds of methamphetamine, which was being provided by two of Oscar’s associates who would include Mendez-Sanchez and co-defendant Aldo Pardini. Investigators later identified a third co-defendant by the name of Jose Jesus Islava-Lopez, a relative of Oscar who was followed to the Billings airport and later to a Billings hotel.
Investigators determined that Islava-Lopez checked into a room and met with Pardini in the hotel parking lot. Pardini and Mendez-Sanchez transported the methamphetamine in Pardini’s car from Arizona to Billings for sales. Investigators detained Islava-Lopez in the hotel lobby, who later admitted that Oscar directed him to fly to Billings for a “jale” (job) and was instructed to rent a room at the hotel and to meet an individual in the parking lot. Islava-Lopez then met Pardini in the parking lot, then went to the room shared by Pardini and Mendez-Sanchez and took custody of a suitcase Pardini handed him and returned to his own hotel room. Investigators served simultaneous search warrants on both hotel rooms and the vehicle and discovered approximately about 34 pounds of methamphetamine in Islava-Lopez’s room.
According to Breitbart law enforcement sources, the methamphetamine is was believed to have been supplied by a Sinaloa Cartel-linked cell operating in Arizona with direct ties to Mexico.
Both Islava-Lopez and Pardini pleaded guilty in the case and are currently awaiting sentencing. Under a plea deal, a conspiracy drug charge against Mendez-Sanchez was dropped. Upon completion of sentence, Mendez-Sanchez will be released to immigration officials for possible deportation.
Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.) You can follow him on Twitter. He can be reached at robertrarce@gmail.com
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