Giant meth chemical supplier: Zhenli Ye Gon extradited from U.S. transferred to Altiplano

Guest Reporter Siskiyou_kid for Borderland Beat Material from South China post, EL Universal, Sinembargo

A Chinese-Mexican businessman accused of drug trafficking, whose house infamously contained a mountain of cash weighing 2 tons, was handed over by US authorities to Mexican authorities as he has exhausted his legal options, ending a years-long extradition battle, his lawyer told Reuters.

Zhenli Ye Gon’s July 2007 arrest in the United States and the seizure of USD $205 million in cash at his Mexico City home several months earlier, played a role in high-profile money laundering investigations by US authorities at the British banking giant HSBC and the Las Vegas Sands Corp. casino company. The discovery of the money, almost entirely consisting of US$100 bills, along with a few pesos and Hong Kong dollars, was hailed as the biggest cash seizure in drug enforcement history.

US prosecutors charged Ye Gon, the former owner of the now defunct Mexican pharmaceutical wholesaler Unimed Pharm Chem, with importing chemicals that cartels allegedly used to produce the illegal drug methamphetamine. Ye Gon’s attorney, Gregory Smith, says his client was a legitimate businessman.

The case collapsed in 2009 after key witnesses recanted or refused to testify, according to court records. Since then, Ye Gon has been imprisoned in a Virginia jail, held on the basis of an extradition request from Mexico, where he faces charges of drug trafficking and money laundering.

Last month, the U.S. State Department approved a request from Mexico that Ye Gon be sent back to the country to face charges of drug trafficking, money laundering and illegal possession of guns.

Ye Gon’s attorney Gregory Smith, has fought extradition, arguing in court that Ye Gon would likely be tortured or killed if he returns to Mexico.

In asking for a stay, Ye Gon’s attorneys argued that he would be tortured or killed by corrupt prison officials if extradited. As evidence, they pointed to United Nations reports documenting such practices, along with sworn statements from two of Ye Gon’s co-defendants, who said they were beaten, placed handcuffed in dark cells and forced to kneel on broken glass.

“He’s not going to make it there, judge,” attorney Greg Smith of Washington, D.C., told Conrad. “He’s not going to make it if he’s sent back to Mexico.”

Smith has argued that media accounts of Ye Gon cooperating with US authorities, which his previous attorneys have denied, as well as his claims that the US$205 million found in his house belonged to Mexican politicians, will make him a target of violence in Mexico.

In court papers, Smith also cites two co-defendants of Ye Gon’s who have both said in sworn statements that they were tortured in Mexican custody.

“There is a very serious risk he will be tortured or killed in prison to the point where I’m losing sleep over it,” Smith said in an interview.

Earlier this month, Ye Gon, 53, exhausted his legal options when a federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia rejected a bid to have his extradition reconsidered.

Gold plated military grade weapons were seized from the mansion 

The court ruled that it could not interfere with the decision of the US State Department, which decided last year that Ye Gon should be handed over to Mexico.

In China

John Kirby, a State Department spokesman, declined to comment on the case, but said that before deciding to extradite someone, the US government must be satisfied an individual would not be tortured and would receive a fair trial.

In a last ditch effort, asked the US Supreme Court for an emergency stay of the extradition next week. But the Supreme Court failed to immediately intervene, giving way for the US authorities placing Ye Gon on a plane to Mexico, Smith said.

 Ye Gon is a Chinese national born in Shanghai with Mexican citizenship. (his attempt to renounce his Mexican citizenship failed)

Court documents said that in 2004 his company, Unimed Pharm Chem, had become the third largest importer in Mexico of pseudo-ephedrine. The chemical is commonly used as a nasal decongestant and can be used to manufacture methamphetamine.

The March 2007 raid of Ye Gon’s mansion led to a money laundering investigation of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. where Ye Gon was a high-stakes baccarat player, according to court papers. The Sands admitted it should have recognized Ye Gon’s suspicious transactions. The casino company paid US$47 million to the government as part of a 2013 settlement with the US Department of Justice.

Reuters reports: “The March 2007 raid of Ye Gon's mansion led to a money laundering investigation of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. where Ye Gon was a high-stakes baccarat player, according to court papers. The Sands admitted it should have recognized Ye Gon’s suspicious transactions. The casino company paid $47 million to the government as part of a 2013 settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Ye Gon's accounts at HSBC were the subject of a broader U.S. federal money laundering investigation of the bank, according to court papers. In 2012 HSBC agreed to a $1.9 billion settlement with U.S. authorities after admitting that its poor controls had allowed drug cartels to launder at least $881 million.”

Mexico did not retain the seized money, “it was counted and deposited in several Mexican Bank accounts" and his property sold with all profits going to the Mexican government.

Along with the U.S. currency:

A large cache of fine jewels

18 million Mexican pesos

200,000 euros

113,000 Hong Kong dollars

11 gold bullion pure gold coins 

Below is Ye Gon's application for asylum, note his undying support for PRI political party

  ZHENLI YE GON  APPLICATION FOR UNITED STATES ASYLUM by Chivis Martinez on Scribd