Not Your Average Drug Bust

The Washington Post ^ | July 25, 2007 | Paul Duggan and Ernesto Londono

[khnyny]

The way U.S. and Mexican authorities describe 44-year-old Zhenli Ye Gon, he might have sprung from some pulp novelist's overheated imagination.

Born in Shanghai, he lived in Mexico and ran a pharmaceuticals company -- a front, authorities allege, that supplied Mexican drug cartels with massive quantities of a chemical used to make the street drug methamphetamine. Police raided his luxurious Mexico City home in March, carting off what they said was $207 million, most of it in $100 bills that had been stashed behind false walls and in closets. The U.S. government called it "the largest single drug cash seizure the world has ever seen."

When the law caught up with Ye Gon on Monday night, his weeks on the lam ended in an Asian restaurant on Veirs Mill Road in Wheaton -- in P.J. Rice Bistro, in Westfield Wheaton mall, near a Ruby Tuesday and a JCPenney.

This is a man who owned a fleet of luxury cars and had mistresses in several countries, according to Mexican officials. In recent years, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said, he gambled away nearly $126 million in Las Vegas casinos.

[khnyny]

If you click on the link, the pictures of the cash seized are unbelievable. There's also a picture of the suspect.

[ClearCase_guy]

Can we spend the money on building the Wall?

[khnyny]

Can we spend the money on building the Wall?

Lol. Yeah, tell Mexico to pony up...

[bert]

Wonder how much of the money laundered through Las Vegas casinos ended in the accounts of Dingy Harry Reid?

[khnyny]

Wonder how much of the money laundered through Las Vegas casinos ended in the accounts of Dingy Harry Reid?

Hey, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

[Gorzaloon]

If you click on the link, the pictures of the cash seized are unbelievable.

So are the figures quoted. I wonder how much was there, and who will be spending it?

[khnyny]

Funny you should mention that, there’s a difference of about $2 million quoted in two different stories. One story said $207M was found, another $205M. Maybe they were just trying to use round numbers.

[cmdjing]

Actually they found 205 million U.S. dollars

Another 18 million Mexican Pesos (about 1.65 million U.S. dollars)

Another 200 thousand in Euros (about 274000 U.S. dollars)

Another 113 thousand Hong Kong dollars (about 15000 U.S. dollars)

Over 13 ounces in gold buillion and other assorted jewelry.

The total haul is worth about 207 million while U.S. dollars made up 205 million of it.

[khnyny]

Thanks for clearing that up. I’m so relieved.

I thought the US dollar is weak against the Euro?/s

[El Sordo]

Note to self: try to buy his house and then knock down every remaining wall....

[MaxMax]

Note to self: try to buy his house and then knock down every remaining wall....

I'll pose as an exterminator while you try buying the house.
/Grin

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Holy fricking moly. If I had that much cash lying around, I’d be in a continuous intoxicated state.

[El Sordo]

Dang. A flaw in my plan.....

[khnyny]

Holy fricking moly. If I had that much cash lying around, I’d be in a continuous intoxicated state.

You and Lindsay Lohan.

Seriously, when he was apprehended, the perp had just ordered cod fish and carrots - go figure. IIRC, he blew around $126 million in Vegas, if that makes you feel any better. Different strokes for differnt folks.

[khnyny]

Lol. I swear I can’t get that image of “Scarface” out of my head when I read about this story.