Thursday, May 04

ANDREW MITROVICA
The Globe and Mail; With reports from Paul Koring in Washington,; Jeff Sallot in Ottawa and Canadian Press
Thursday, May 4, 2000

Toronto -- Secret meetings, bribes and videotapes were key elements in an elaborate sting operation by U.S. authorities that led to the arrest yesterday of two Canadians on charges of conspiring to smuggle Chinese migrants into the United States.

Hyo Young (Peter) Park of Winnipeg and Tong (Thomas) Choe of Toronto were arrested early yesterday morning in Detroit and charged by the U.S. Justice Department with conspiring to smuggle aliens from China into the United States by bribing a U.S. government official.

A Chinese man and his two Canadian daughters are also expected to be arrested by U.S. authorities on human smuggling charges.

"Criminal organizations responsible for trafficking in human beings have been dealt another major setback today," Doris Meissner, the Commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, said yesterday.

The Canadians face up to 15 years in jail and a possible fine of up to $600,000 (U.S.) if convicted of the bribery and smuggling charges.

Also charged yesterday by the U.S. Justice Department were Fhang Wei and Fheng Huang both of Fuzhou, China, Yu Feng Liu from Camp Hill, Pa., and a person identified only as Andy, whose last name and hometown are unknown.

A law-enforcement official who is intimately familiar with the undercover operation told The Globe and Mail that one of the indicted Chinese men is a leading general in the People's Liberation Army. The general's alleged involvement in the smuggling operations, the source added, is sanctioned by the Beijing government.

"He's the big fish," a source said. "Nobody leaves China by boat or plane without going through him."

However, U.S. and Canadian authorities would not confirm or deny this yesterday.

A spokeswoman for the Chinese embassy in Ottawa, Qin Xin, said the allegation that Beijing is behind the human smuggling operations is "sheer nonsense and totally groundless." She said, however, that if any Chinese officials are involved -- including senior military officers -- they will be punished.

The criminal charges were the result of five-month probe by the U.S. Justice Department and INS code-named Operation Squeeze Play.

In an eight-page indictment filed in U.S District Court in Detroit, U.S. attorney Saul Green described how the sting operation unfolded.

An undercover agent, who posed as a corrupt immigration officer, arranged to meet two Canadian suspects several times in motels near the Detroit airport. At these meetings, the Canadians allegedly offered the undercover agent thousands of dollars in bribes in return for scores of valid U.S. visas that would permit Chinese migrants to enter the United States. All the meetings, law-enforcement sources said, were videotaped by U.S. authorities.

The indictment alleged that on March 18, six Chinese migrants from Fujian province were brought into the United States through Detroit's Metropolitan Airport using visas obtained by bribing Ronald Katz, a senior INS officer who posed as the corrupt immigration inspector.

On March 20, the indictment said, Mr. Katz was paid $18,000 for the visas used to allow the six migrants to enter the United States through an immigration checkpoint at the airport. At that meeting, Mr. Katz was also allegedly asked to make available, in exchange for a bribe, U.S. visas for 215 Chinese passports.

On March 23, Mr. Katz was allegedly offered a bribe to supply U.S. visas for another 110 Chinese passports.

Then, in a curious twist, an unidentified "co-operating individual" travelled to Fuzhou, China, in late March on behalf of the U.S. government to meet with the alleged Chinese smuggling kingpins.

On March 30, another 10 Chinese migrants from Fujian province were accompanied to the Detroit airport and were carrying valid Chinese passports with U.S. visas obtained after the alleged bribes were paid to Mr. Katz.

Law-enforcement sources said the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP were informally aware of the undercover operation but did not provide any assistance to U.S. authorities.

Indeed, both the Mounties and Canada's intelligence service were aware that the two Canadians were being watched as part of the investigation. However, sources said, both agencies wanted any arrests made in the United States because sentences for smuggling and bribery are stiffer there.

"They [the RCMP and CSIS] wanted these guys nailed and they knew that Canada isn't really interested in nailing guys like this," a source said.

Four boats carrying about 600 migrants arrived in British Columbia from Fujian province in southeast China in the summer. Scores more arrive by plane, law-enforcement sources said.

Most migrants quickly claimed refugee status. About 80 of the newcomers have disappeared. Only 23 have been deported. The remainder are either appealing the refugee decisions or waiting for Beijing to provide them with travel documents, a lengthy process that frustrates Canadian officials.

Indeed, the RCMP are so frustrated that they have served notice to the Citizenship and Immigration Department that they will would no longer guard any new migrants who might arrive on British Columbia's shores this summer.

For her part, Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan said yesterday that her officials are co-operating with their counterparts in the United States, China and Australia to crack the human smuggling rings.

But she would not comment on the arrests and charges, insisting she raised the issue of corruption with Chinese officials during her recent visit to China.

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