# Mexico AG Seizes $206 Million In Drug Money



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

Mexico's attorney general said the $206 million in cash seized from a luxury Mexico City house was connected to one of the hemisphere's largest networks for trafficking pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in methamphetamines.
Courtesy: Procuraduria General de La Republica








In addition to the dollars, which were hidden inside walls, suitcases and closets, officials found 200,000 euros and 157,500 pesos.
CBS

_(AP)_ _MEXICO CITY _Mexico's attorney general said the $206 million in cash seized from a luxury Mexico City house was connected to one of the hemisphere's largest networks for trafficking pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in methamphetamines.

In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press on Friday, Eduardo Medina Mora said the ring had been operating since 2004 and was run by a native of China who had gained Mexican citizenship. The alleged gang leader is in hiding, possibly outside of the country, Medina Mora said.

"This organization had been introducing the illegally imported product to our country and maybe to the United States," Medina Mora said. "There are certainly connections between this group and methamphetamine producers."

Federal agents seized the cash, eight luxury vehicles, seven weapons and a machine to make pills during a raid Thursday at a house in Lomas de Chapultepec, a neighborhood of walled compounds that is home to ambassadors and business magnates. Seven people were arrested.

In addition to the dollars, which were hidden inside walls, suitcases and closets, officials found 200,000 euros and 157,500 pesos.

Authorities said it was the largest seizure of drug money ever in Mexico.

Medina Mora said the network likely had links to Mexican drug cartels that traffic tons of methamphetamines to the United States, though authorities do not know which ones.

Since the U.S. cracked down on the mass sale of cold medicines used to make methamphetamines, Mexico has become one of the world's largest producers of the synthetic drug.

Medina Mora said Thursday's raid was connected to an investigation into an alleged front company, Unimed Pharm Chem de Mexico SA, which is believed to have imported large quantities of the ingredients needed to make methamphetamines from Asia.

The investigation began in December after officials seized 19.5 tons of pseudoephedrine in the Pacific port of Lazaro Cardenas.

Medina Mora also told the AP the United States needs to work harder to stop drug trafficking within its own borders, adding that this was a key topic of discussion between Mexican President Felipe Calderon and President Bush when they met in Merida earlier this week.

At an event in Tijuana on Friday, Calderon praised the cash seizure as an achievement of his nearly nationwide crackdown against drug trafficking. Since taking office Dec. 1, he has sent more than 20,000 police and soldiers into drug strongholds to battle drug gangs.

"We have no alternative," Calderon said. "We must act in a decisive manner now or the costs in terms of money and human lives will be much more, and worse still, unrecoverable. We must act now or lose Mexico."

Information From: AP Wire Services


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## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

Record Drug Cash Seizure Just Got Bigger

The world's largest drug cash seizure just got bigger.
In a news release sent out Thursday, the Mexican federal Attorney General's office said a new count of the Mexican pesos seized in a luxury home in Mexico City found 17.3 million pesos - not the 157,500 originally reported - a difference worth about US$1.5 million (euro1.12 million).
There was no explanation for the large discrepancy.
The new figure brought the total amount of cash seized in the home to more than US$207 million (euro155.04 million.) That includes 205.6 million in U.S. dollars, 200,000 in euros and the pesos.
On Monday, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration chief Karen Tandy said in a statement that it was the largest drug-cash seizure "the world has ever seen."
Officials also said the main suspect, a Chinese man with Mexican citizenship, was also wanted by Interpol on drug charges. Prosecutors say Zhenli Ye Gon ran one of the hemisphere's largest networks for trafficking pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in methamphetamines.
He allegedly used the front company, Unimed Pharm Chem de Mexico SA, to import large quantities of the ingredients needed to make methamphetamines from India and Germany.
Federal agents seized the cash, eight luxury vehicles, seven weapons and a machine to make pills during a raid last week at a house in Lomas de Chapultepec, a neighborhood of walled compounds that is home to ambassadors and business magnates. Seven people were arrested.
The money was hidden in walls, closets and suitcases.
Since the U.S. cracked down on the mass sale of cold medicines used to make methamphetamines, Mexico has become one of the world's largest producers of the synthetic drug.

Information from: AP Wire Services


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## Danman (Nov 21, 2006)

thats great now mexico just got safer


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