The Mystery of the $200 Million Drug Bust | The War on Drugs

2,594,331
0
Published 2021-08-30
This is the story of how the biggest cash bust in the history of the War on Drugs never uncovered any actual drugs.

In 2007, federal police raided the Mexico city mansion of the high-flying businessman Zhenli Ye Gon. Inside they found $207 million dollars – over two tonnes of $100 dollar bills – along with luxury cars and automatic weapons.

But who was Zhenli? How did a Chinese-Mexican businessman go from photo-ops with world leaders to allegedly supplying the Sinaloa Cartel? And how did he supposedly blow $157 million gambling in Las Vegas?

In this episode, we uncover one of the outright weirdest, least-known stories of the entire War on Drugs.

Watch more from this series:

Did the CIA Actually Sell Crack in the 1980s?
   • Did the CIA Actually Sell Crack in th...  

Why Mexican Cartels Use American Guns
   • Why Mexican Cartels Use American Guns...  

How Mexican Drug Cartels Make Billions
   • How Mexican Drug Cartels Make Billion...  

Click here to subscribe to VICE: bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE

About VICE:
The Definitive Guide To Enlightening Information. From every corner of the planet, our immersive, caustic, ground-breaking and often bizarre stories have changed the way people think about culture, crime, art, parties, fashion, protest, the internet and other subjects that don't even have names yet. Browse the growing library and discover corners of the world you never knew existed. Welcome to VICE.

Connect with VICE:
Check out our full video catalog: bit.ly/VICE-Videos
Videos, daily editorial and more: vice.com/
More videos from the VICE network: www.fb.com/vicevideo
Click here to get the best of VICE daily: bit.ly/1SquZ6v
Like VICE on Facebook: fb.com/vice
Follow VICE on Twitter: twitter.com/vice
Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/vice

The VICE YouTube Network:
VICE: youtube.com/VICE
MUNCHIES: youtube.com/MUNCHIES
VICE News: youtube.com/VICENews
VICELAND: youtube.com/VICELANDTV
Broadly: youtube.com/Broadly
Noisey: youtube.com/Noisey
Motherboard: youtube.com/MotherboardTV
VICE Sports: youtube.com/NOC
i-D: youtube.com/iDmagazine
Waypoint: youtube.com/WaypointVICE

All Comments (21)
  • @giovanni1459
    "Sir, we found 500 million $ Cash!" "Did you say 350 million $?" "Yes Sir, 206 million $!"
  • @joshuapryor7991
    Y’all should do a documentary on how the cops that made the bust are living now
  • They're holding off bringing him to trial because they would have to account for the money they stole from the raid.
  • @jrobb5956
    I JUST moved to Las Vegas, and after spending about two months in major casinos on the strip? I can tell you: it’s not something that was of “the past” - it’s really evident when you see the same guys, night after night, just wearing a backpack and not even having a room - and somehow putting down over $20,000 for chips at a table, playing one hand for $50, then cashing out at the cage. It’s happening every night.
  • @XCVi_MAC
    Yeah and the agents probably slipped a stack or two onto their pockets.
  • @Bettinasisrg
    Future historians will look back on the war on drugs and be baffled at the stupidity.
  • “They always talk about the ‘street value’ of the bust. They never use ‘hours of fun ruined’ “ - Doug Stanhope
  • @yeet--
    this is a certified hood classic
  • @DannyMacDJ
    The war on drugs is like pulling out a banana at a bank robbery
  • @ritchierich2793
    "Chinese Mexican" there that's the title right there.. his the ultimate middleman yet ever..
  • And the casino totally aware of the scheme just gets a slap on the wrist amd gave back 50 mil... they made eachother 100's of millions... nuts
  • @Osmar20032007
    Lol! I lived in Mexico when this happened, I remember hearing about this on the street before it was news. FAR more to this story than what's here and it goes to the very top of the ladder...
  • @ricr.4669
    200$ million but the actual count was probably 4x, and then when it got to the auditors "real" actual count was probably $20 million. 😂 😆
  • @dmcleod1000
    I won't be surprised if the agents took some of the money for themselves.
  • @espoespo3557
    What was reported, seized, and final count isn't the same amount. Catch my drift? Yeah.