Zhenli Ye Gon (born January 31, 1963, in Shanghai) is a Chinese-Mexican businessman currently under suspicion of trafficking pseudoephedrine or ephedrine precursor chemicals into Mexico from Asia. He is the owner and legal representative of Unimed Pharm Chem México, as well as various other Mexican corporations. From 2002 to 2004, Unimed had been legally authorized by the Mexican government to import thousands of metric tons of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine products into Mexico, as a part of its vast importation business. Pseudoephedrine and ephedrine products at the time were widely used in over-the-counter cold medications such as Sudafed, but could also be used by manufacturers of methamphetamine.
Audits conducted by Mexican officials between 2002 and 2006 at Unimed showed no improprieties such as improper diversion of any such chemicals. Nevertheless, after Unimed's license to import pseudoephedrine and ephedrine products ended on July 1, 2005, it was alleged that Ye Gon and certain employees of his violated the law by continuing to import four unauthorized containers of pseudoephedrine or ephedrine precursor chemicals into Mexico in late 2005 and 2006. Only 4 of Unimed's 291 imported shipments (from Canada, China, England, Germany, Israel, Hong Kong and the United States) into Mexico have ever been questioned. In July 2007, the U.S. government filed an indictment charging that the importation of these four shipments into Mexico was part of a conspiracy to aid and abet the importation of methamphetamine into the United States. Two years later, the U.S. case was dismissed with prejudice by The United States District Court for the District of Columbia, in August 2009.
He is claimed to be a member of the Sinaloa Cartel, a charge that Ye Gon, who has no previous criminal record, has denied. He became a citizen of Mexico in 2002 and was recognized as a wealthy business owner in Mexico before these allegations of wrongdoing arose.
Ye Gon was extradited to Mexico in October, 2016, after fighting extradition to Mexico for nine years while incarcerated in the United States.
U.S. case against Ye Gon
In 2007, Zhenli Ye Gon was indicted in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia with a single count of conspiracy to aid and abet the manufacture of 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, knowing or intending that it would be imported into the United States. Federal agents arrested him in a Wheaton, Maryland restaurant on July 23, 2007. From the date of his arrest, Ye Gon has always maintained that he is not guilty. Prior to the Mexican government's enforcement actions, Ye Gon was openly building a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical plant in Toluca, Mexico, and in his federal court proceedings, the U.S. prosecutor referred to Ye Gon as "a very sophisticated businessman."
Although the criminal allegations arose from Unimed's importation of four shipments of alleged precursors of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine during 2005–06, Unimed had still had on-hand, in March 2006, an unsold balance of 9.806 metric tons of finished pseudoephedrine products, which had been legally imported in 2004, but which were still sitting in its warehouse. With the consent of Mexican officials, this large quantity of pseudoephedrine products was sold in compliance with the Mexican government's directions. During his U.S. proceedings, Ye Gon's lawyers pointed out the incongruity of Unimed allegedly importing unfinished pseudoephedrine products while it still had on hand almost 10 metric tons of finished pseudoephedrine products, which had been sitting idly for years, and could have been diverted if criminal activity had been contemplated. They also noted how none of the four challenged shipments were listed as containing pseudoephedrine or ephedrine precursors, and that Mexico's government-approved chemist assigned to Unimed, Bernardo Mercado Jiminez, stated under oath that he did not know that the imported substances were prohibited under Mexican law, and that he advised Ye Gon, who is not a chemist, that the imported substances were legal chemicals not controlled or restricted under Mexican law.