6 Indicted in Alien Smuggling Plot

DETROIT (AP) - Six people have been indicted in a conspiracy to smuggle hundreds of illegal immigrants from China to the United States by bribing a U.S. immigration inspector, federal officials said Wednesday.

The indictment alleges the six plotted to smuggle the aliens from Fujian Province, China, through Detroit Metropolitan Airport via commercial flights, U.S. Attorney Saul Green said.

To get into the country, the aliens used Chinese passports containing entry visas that were obtained by bribing a senior immigration inspector who was posing as a corrupt inspector, Green said. In all, 425 passports were provided to the inspector in exchange for $260,000.

Speak your mind Discuss this story with other people. [Start a Conversation] (Requires Yahoo! Messenger)

Sixteen Chinese nationals made it into the country through the airport in March, according to Gina Vitrano, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney. Their whereabouts are unknown, she said.

The case, known as ``Operation Squeeze Play,'' was investigated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

``Criminal organizations responsible for trafficking in human beings have been dealt a major setback today,'' INS Commissioner Doris Meissner said.

Named in the six-count indictment were Fhang Wei and Pheng Huang, both of Fuzhou, Fujian, China; Hyo Young ``Peter'' Park, of Winnipeg, Canada; Tong ``Thomas'' Choe, of Toronto; Yu Feng Liu, of Camp Hill, Pa.; and a person identified only as Andy.

Three remained at large Wednesday. The other three were arrested Tuesday night at the airport, along with two sisters and their father, all from a Toronto suburb, Vitrano said.

If convicted, those indicted could be sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison and fined $600,000.

Full Coverage See a Yahoo! special report on Immigration

Related News Stories · INS Urged to Delay Return of Boy to Thailand - Los Angeles Times (May 3, 2000) · Adoptee in Texas faces INS nightmare - San Jose Mercury News (May 2, 2000) · One family's fight to overturn immigration law - Christian Science Monitor (May 2, 2000) · Haitian Migration Linked to Violence, Poverty - Los Angeles Times (Apr 29, 2000) · Armed rancher acts as one-man border patrol - USA Today (Apr 28, 2000) More In Full Coverage

Related Web Sites · Rights for All: Refugee Issues - about refugees and asylum seekers in the U.S. Get the complete text of the report Lost in the Labyrinth: Detention of Asylum Seekers. From Amnesty International USA. · United States: Locked Away - report on immigration detainees in jails in the United States from Human Rights Watch. · Here and There, Holding On to the Homeland - special report that examines identity and ties to home countries. From the New York Times, July 1998. · By The Numbers: U.S. Immigration - a look at legal and illegal immigrants, and where they chose to settle in the U.S. From Scientific American, September, 1999. · FAIR - non-profit organization with the point of view that unforeseen mass immigration that has occurred over the last 30 years should not continue. More In Full Coverage

Opinion & Editorials · Ignoring Immigration - Washington Post (May 3, 2000) · Changing 'Deportland' - The Oregonian (May 2, 2000) · Handcuffed at Portland's gate - The Oregonian (Apr 26, 2000)

Magazine Articles · One family's fight - Christian Science Monitor (May 2, 2000) · Out of Africa - shewire (Apr 19, 2000) · Migration of the Melting Pot - NY Times Magazine (registration req'd) (Apr 9, 2000)

Audio · Appeals Court Rules Against Indefinite Detention of Immigrants - NPR (Apr 11, 2000) · Tinkering with Immigration Law - NPR (Apr 6, 2000) · The Changing Face of America - NPR (Feb 23, 2000) More In Full Coverage