Navigation bar
 
Illegal Migrants
BAR BACK TO CNEWS

Français




Illegal Migrants Thursday, Feb. 10, 2000

Smuggling suspect won't talk

By RANDY RICHMOND -- London Free Press

LONDON, Ont. - A suspected key player in a smuggling ring running migrants through Southwestern Ontario is a Richmond Hill man charged in a $9-million credit card fraud, The London Free Press has learned.

Hau Duong, also known as Harry Duong, 47, was charged in the fall with possession of forged credit cards and instruments of forgery after police found 2,500 blank credit cards in a Richmond Hill office.

Duong was also indicted by a U.S. grand jury in December after an eight-month investigation into migrant smuggling through Walpole Island.

The U.S. government has charged Duong with transporting Asian migrants to the Canadian-Michigan border.

"Generally, the conspiracy smuggled Asian aliens from Toronto . . . to New York . . . through the Eastern District of Michigan," the indictment says.

It also says transportation of migrants from Toronto to the border was "made or arranged" by Duong and Harold Pinnance of Walpole Island, who earlier told The Free Press the allegations against him are "all just lies."

U.S. agents say they suspect Duong is a central player in a migrant smuggling ring, higher up the ladder than smugglers in Southwestern Ontario.

"No, no, no, I don't know anything about that," Duong said when asked about smuggling charges. "I am a worker. I am in construction," he said in a telephone interview, friendly but insistent he had no ties to Walpole Island smugglers. "I don't know anybody down there."

U.S. immigration authorities had been referring to Duong as Ho Duong, but there was a mixup, said Brian Slonac, head anti-smuggling agent with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in Detroit. Ho Duong is Harry's brother and is not the one under U.S. investigation.

Once migrants reach the Walpole Island area, smugglers take them by boat across the St. Clair River, according to U.S. and Canadian authorities. From Michigan, they are driven to New York City, where they can find work, often to pay off the Asian gang leaders, called snakeheads, who organize their transport.

Nine Walpole Island residents have been charged by U.S. authorities and four others have been convicted on smuggling charges since last May.

Several other Ontario people also face charges.

Duong was charged in the fall after York Region police found the fake gold and platinum credit cards -- with designs from the TD, CIBC, Hongkong Bank of Canada and American banks and worth up to $9 million -- in a Richmond Hill office north of Toronto.

"We had never seen that many blank credit cards in one place," said Det. Const. Mike Elliott, an eight-year veteran of the York fraud unit. York police handed over information on Duong to the RCMP, Elliott said.

The RCMP refused comment.

Duong was born in Vietnam, but his passport shows he spent some time in China, Elliott said.

He described Duong as five-foot-six, 160 pounds with a silver front tooth. Duong was not at his large, two-storey home in Richmond Hill when The Free Press visited last week. A nephew said his uncle usually leaves early in the morning and gets back about midnight.

The office where the credit cards were found is one of many in a three-storey commercial building. The numbered company that operated in the unit is registered with the province as a construction firm, according to documents obtained by The Free Press.

But employees of a neighbouring software business say they saw little evidence of construction work. A diesel truck often visited the office throughout the night, said one employee who often works late hours.

"They were always coming and going," he said. "But I couldn't see anything in the truck."

Another employee who visited Duong's office said she saw clothing hanging on the wall and three sewing machines.

Employees of neighbouring businesses often noticed several Asian women walking on the sidewalk outside.



TOP NEWS: Students may be suspects
CANADA: Homolka tale on TV
WORLD: Explosion on Wall Street
NEWSWORTHY: Big bucks for naked Web shots

ALSO IN CNEWS
FEATURES: Amazon odyssey completed
SPACE: NASA ready for Earth-mapping mission
TECH NEWS: 'Zombie' computers add to hacker attack

Do you have an opinion about one of our stories?

Know someone who might be interested in this page? Just type in the email address to send them the URL
Enter a destination email address:
Enter your email address:
INSIDE CNEWS
TOP STORIES
COLUMNS
BEST PIX
FEATURES
LIFE
C-HEALTH
SPACE
POLITICS
NEWSGROUPS
TECH NEWS
SPECIALS
HEY MARTHA
    TICKERS: CANADA | THE WEST | ONTARIO/QUEBEC | ATLANTIC | WORLD
    BIZ TICKERS: CANADIAN PRESS | REUTERS
    CNEWS SEARCH

Navigation bar
 



CANOE home | We welcome your feedback.
Technical questions? Click here.
Copyright © 2000, Canoe Limited Partnership. All rights reserved.