Be careful what you ask for… Zenli Ye Gon

If he names names…

Zenli Ye Gon… whose explanation for the  205.6 million U.S. dollars, 200,000 Euros and 157,500 Pesos found sitting around his house back in March of 2007 has always been he was just holding the money for various politicians (mostly PAN) … may be coming back to Mexico.  Reluctantly, at best.

Accused of running a meth ring, money laundering, and the always popular “possession of arms reserved to the military”, Ye Gon fled to the United States.  Although taken into custody in the United States, the U.S. Attorney has been unable to prove any violations of U.S. laws (while attempting to hold him on drug smuggling charges, the most anyone could prove is that Ye Gon imported pseudoephenidrine — a key ingredient in meth production — into Mexico… not a crime in either in Mexico or the United States, at the time).  Ye Gon would not cooperate with the D.E.A. — arguing that he doesn’t have any information to give them — and has been held in federal prison under one pretext or another for the last eight years.

There has always been suspicion that Ye Gon might talk about his claims that he was a bagman for the Calderón campaign of 2006, and that he was paying off politicians from all the major parties.  If the United States deports him back to Mexico, whether he goes before a court is a dicey proposition.  Disappearing him, or arranging an “accident” might be a bit too obvious an attempt to cover up the coming scandal to all but the stupidest of political operatives, and may not be an option.  If his story is at all credible and the various pols likely to be named aren’t prepared with a good counter-narrative about the “Chinese drug kingpin”.  Otherwise, if he does stand trial and is allowed to start naming names (as he threatened in a recent Univision interview) the government may be sorry they ever began extradition proceedings.

Aristegui Noticias:  “Yo di dinero a políticos, partido PRI, partido PAN, todos los partidos”: Zhenli Ye Gon en Univision (7 September 2015).

Proceso: “La voy a pasar muy mal” si denuncio a políticos mexicanos: Zhenli Ye Gon (7 September 2015)