Friday, January 14, 2000, 07:51 a.m. Pacific
Two Chinese nationals indicted in human-smuggling scheme
by Joshua Robin
Seattle Times staff reporter
Two men have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges they helped smuggle 12 Chinese nationals into the United States on Jan. 2 in a metal cargo container aboard a ship that docked in Seattle.
The indictment, filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Seattle, alleges Yu Zheng and Sheng Ding are part of a larger plot in the U.S. and China to smuggle Chinese nationals into this country for up to $60,000 per person and to financially exploit them once they settle in the U.S.
Each man is charged with four crimes: conspiracy to bring in illegal aliens for financial gain; bringing in illegal aliens; attempted transportation of illegal aliens; and bringing in illegal aliens for financial gain.
Attorneys representing the two men said they would plead not guilty.
Since Jan. 1, 103 Chinese nationals - 48 in Seattle - have been apprehended at West Coast ports in the U.S. and Canada after being smuggled in soft-top shipping containers. Three people were found dead Monday in Seattle in a squalid container that had run low on food and water, and where buckets were used for human waste.
At least 284 Chinese nationals have been apprehended entering ports in soft-top containers since Feb. 4, 1999.
Yesterday's indictment is the first against people alleged to have been involved with smuggling them.
Zheng and Ding were arrested Jan. 2 by Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) agents after the agents detained Chinese smuggled into the U.S. aboard the OOCL Faith. OOCL stands for the Orient Overseas Container Line, based in Hong Kong. Zheng and Ding were in a van circling Terminal 18 on Harbor Island around the time the Faith docked.
According to court documents, INS agents said Ding carried information on when the Faith would arrive. They later discovered in the men's hotel room a bill of lading for two ships, the Faith and the California Jupiter, which was due to arrive here Jan. 4.
On Jan. 4, Canadian immigration agents in Vancouver, B.C., found 25 Chinese stowaways in two cargo containers on the California Jupiter. Officials of NYK Lines, which owns the Jupiter, said it went to Canada instead because of ship traffic in Seattle.
A third man arrested Jan. 2, Ju Shu Huang, was not mentioned in the indictment.
The indictment does not make clear how much rank Ding and Zheng had in the alleged international operation.
The conspiracy charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of three years in prison and a maximum of 10 years; bringing in illegal immigrants and attempted transportation of illegal aliens each carry a penalty of up to 10 years.
Ding and Zheng, both Chinese citizens illegally in the United States, will be arraigned Jan. 20 at federal court in Seattle. INS agents found a New York driver's license on Zheng. Attorney Carol Koller said her client speaks little English, is married and has two children.
Ken Kanev, Ding's attorney, did not answer questions about his client's personal history.
Don Reno, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case, would not say whether the government would offer the two reduced charges in exchange for more information.
He said, however, "generally speaking, it certainly has happened in other alien-smuggling cases."
Kanev said "the subject has not come up yet."
Copyright © 2000 The Seattle Times Company
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