8 Arrested In $200 Million Smuggling Operation From China To U.S. Via L.A Ports

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in California announced the disruption of a large-scale smuggling operation that involved moving at least $200 million worth of counterfeit and illegal goods from China to the United States on January 27.

The goods were smuggled into the U.S. through the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the largest ports in the country.

Nine individuals have been charged with conspiracy, smuggling, and breaking customs seals. Seven of the individuals were arrested on January 26, and one more was taken into custody on January 27. A ninth individual remains at large. The arrested individuals will face trial on March 18, 2025.

According to law enforcement, the smuggling network included executives from logistics companies, warehouse owners, trucking companies, and managers who coordinated the movement of truck drivers.

This enabled the smuggling of counterfeit goods through the ports and kept the operation hidden from customs and law enforcement.

It involved a process where the conspirators would divert containers that were flagged for secondary inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

These containers, instead of being inspected at the port, were moved to off-site locations. The goods inside were unloaded, and the containers were filled with “filler” cargo to mislead officials.

The conspirators then attached counterfeit security seals to the containers, which were returned to CBP for inspection, hiding the fact that the containers had been tampered with.

Once at off-site locations, such as warehouses in the City of Industry, the co-conspirators would break the security seals on the containers, remove the contraband, and replace it with other goods.

After resealing the containers with counterfeit seals, they were sent back to CBP-authorized locations to be presented for inspection.

During the investigation, law enforcement seized over $130 million in contraband goods. One of the warehouses used by the smugglers was raided in June 2024, leading to the seizure of $20 million worth of counterfeit items. These counterfeit goods included shoes, perfume, luxury handbags, apparel, and watches.

The individuals charged in the conspiracy include the head of a logistics company, managers of trucking firms, warehouse owners, and truck drivers.

Some of the main conspirators involved were:

Weijun Zheng, 57, who controlled several logistics companies in the Los Angeles area, Hexi Wang 32, a manager at K&P International Logistics, a City of Industry-based company that hired truckers to transport containers from the Port of Los Angeles, Jin “Mark” Liu, 42, the owner of K&P International Logistics, who managed finances and oversaw one of the warehouses where contraband was offloaded.

Dong “Liam” Lin, 31, who, along with Zheng, operated one of the warehouses used for hiding smuggled goods, Marck Anthony Gomez, 49, the owner of Fannum Trucks LLC, a company that coordinated the movement of containers from the Port of Los Angeles, Andy Estuardo Castillo Perez, 32, a truck driver employed by M4 Transportation Inc., a Carson-based company.

Jesse James Rosales, 41, coordinated the movement of truckers from the ports to the warehouses, Daniel Acosta Hoffman, 41, worked with Rosales to move containers from the port to the warehouses, and Galvin Biao Liufu, 33, managed truck drivers transporting contraband to the warehouses.

The investigation into the operation began in 2023 when CBP agriculture specialists, during a routine examination of a shipping container at the Port of Los Angeles, found irregularities that led to the identification of the smuggling conspiracy.

The group is believed to have smuggled goods into the U.S. from China through the ports from at least August 2023 until June 2024. Federal authorities have now seized more than $1.3 billion in counterfeit goods linked to this and similar smuggling operations.

Cheryl Davies, the Director of Field Operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Los Angeles, praised the efforts of CBP officers.

Reference: U.S. Department of Justice

Source: Maritime Shipping News