On Monday, the federal government asked a judge to drop charges against the man associated with the largest methamphetamine seizure in US history. An unhappy federal judge stated, “I am not pleased at all with anything I’ve heard from the United States government.”
Ye Gon, a Chinese-Mexican businessman is charged with importing large amounts of methamphetamine into the United States. When he was arrested in 2007 the U.S. government seized 205 million in drug profit. Accused of operating one of the largest methamphetamine production cartels North America, his cash is connected to one of the largest networks for trafficking pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in methamphetamines.
He said the ring had been operating since 2004, illegally importing the substance and selling it to a drug cartel that mixed it into the crystal form and imported it into the United States.
Ye Gon’s lawyer reports that he is happy with the recent decision, but he will likely not go free even if the charges are dropped. He is awaiting extradition to Mexico where he faces charges of organized crime, drug trafficking and weapons charges.
The fact of the dropped charges against one of the largest drug Lords in the world is a disappointment. The federal government has spent untold amounts of money on a trial that went nowhere while effective treatment and education are underfunded.
Originally methamphetamine in the U.S. was made and sold by motorcycle gangs and other internal criminals. Meth Labs began popping up all across the United Stated and Law enforcement reacted by busting thousands of these labs.
Mexican drug cartels have moved into the area, smuggling in drugs manufactured in vast commercial style laboratories.
Recent efforts in the United State to curb the sales of the main ingredients of methamphetamine have indeed made it harder to manufacture the drug inside the United States, but the cartels are finding the ingredients elsewhere.
It is clear, with the failed attempt at prosecuting Ye Gon, that the answer to drug trafficking lies in demand reduction . Effective drug treatment and education should be provided by families and the schools.
