Chinese-Mexican businessman extradited from U.S. faces drug trafficking charges

FILE - In this May 17, 2007 file photo, Chinese-Mexican businessman Zhenli Ye Gon is interviewed in his lawyer's office in Queens, N.Y. The businessman was extradited from the U.S. to Mexico, according to Deputy Attorney General Salvador Sandoval on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016. Ye Gon had been jailed in the U.S. since July 2007, when authorities seized more than $205 million from his Mexico City mansion, one of the largest drug-related cash seizures ever. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) (2007 AP)

MEXICO CITY (AP – Mexico's federal judicial council says in a statement that a Chinese-Mexican businessman extradited here from the United States last week will face a dozen charges including for drug trafficking and weapons possession.

Zhenli Ye Gon had fought extradition for nine years before being returned to Mexico on Tuesday. He had been jailed in the U.S. since July 2007, after authorities seized more than $205 million from his Mexico City mansion.

The businessman claimed chemicals he imported were for use in manufacturing legitimate prescription drugs, but a statement from the council Saturday said he would remain imprisoned while awaiting trial on 12 charges. They include importing and producing drugs, as well as weapons possession and organized crime.

He is being held at the maximum-security Altiplano prison west of Mexico City.

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