Federal law enforcement has arrested eight individuals charged in an indictment alleging a conspiracy among trucking and logistics companies’ executives, warehouse owners and truck drivers to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of counterfeit and other illegal goods from China into the United States via the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, the 15-count indictment, returned last month and unsealed Jan. 24, charges nine defendants with conspiracy, smuggling and breaking customs seals. The defendants allegedly took containers flagged for off-site secondary inspection, unloaded the contraband, then stuffed the targeted containers with filler cargo to deceive customs officials and evade law enforcement.
During the investigation, law enforcement seized more than $130 million in contraband, and the organization is believed to be responsible for smuggling at least $200 million worth of goods. According to the indictment, a search of one warehouse used by the group led to the seizure in June 2024 of $20 million worth of counterfeit items: shoes, perfume, luxury handbags, apparel, watches and more.
Seven defendants were arrested Friday, an eighth was taken into custody Saturday evening, and one defendant remained a fugitive, according to the U.S. attorney's office. The seven arrested last week were arraigned in United States District Court, where each pleaded not guilty. A trial date was scheduled for March 18. The eighth defendant, who was arrested on unrelated state charges, is expected to be arraigned in federal court in the coming days.
[Related: Drug trafficker claims she worked with truck drivers in operation]
The 15-count indictment details a conspiracy to coordinate the shipment of large quantities of contraband from China to the United States through the Port of Los Angeles from at least August 2023 to June 2024. According to the indictment, the defendants charged are:
- Weijun Zheng, 57, a.k.a. “Sonic,” of Diamond Bar, California, the lone fugitive in the case, who controls several logistics companies operating in the Los Angeles area
- Hexi Wang, 32, of El Monte, California, who manages K&P International Logistics LLC, a City of Industry-based company that hires commercial truckers to transport shipping containers from the Port of Los Angeles
- Jin “Mark” Liu, 42, of Irvine, California, the owner of K&P International Logistics LLC and who managed the finances of one of the warehouses where contraband was unloaded and issued payments to truck drivers who transported smuggled goods
- Dong “Liam” Lin, 31, of Hacienda Heights, California, who -- along with Zheng -- controlled and operated one of the contraband warehouses
- Marck Anthony Gomez, 49, of West Covina, California, the owner and operator of Fannum Trucks LLC, a West Covina-based company that coordinated the movement of shipping containers from the Port of Los Angeles, including large shipments of contraband
- Andy Estuardo Castillo Perez, 32, of Apple Valley, California, a driver for M4 Transportation Inc., a Carson-based company that transports shipping containers from the Port of Los Angeles
- Jesse James Rosales, 41, of Apple Valley, California, who coordinated truckers from the ports to warehouses
- Daniel Acosta Hoffman, 41, of Hacienda Heights, California, worked with Rosales to bring cargo containers from the Port of Los Angeles to warehouses
- Galvin Biao Liufu, 33, of Ontario, California, directed and managed truck drivers to bring the contraband into the warehouses
Zheng, Wang, Liu and others maintained and operated warehouses to store, conceal and sell large amounts of contraband goods, according to the indictment. When the contraband containers were selected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for inspection, the defendants hired commercial truck drivers to transport the containers from the Port of Los Angeles to other locations, including warehouses in the City of Industry that were controlled or managed by Zheng, Wang and others.
At these locations, co-conspirators broke the security seals on the shipping containers and removed the contraband from inside. Then, they affixed counterfeit security seals onto the containers to conceal that cargo had been removed from them. Zheng, Wang and others then directed co-conspirators to transport the containers -- after they had been emptied of much of their original cargo and re-secured with counterfeit seals -- to CBP-authorized locations for the remaining cargo to be presented to customs officials for inspection.
Zheng, Wang, Liu and others paid fees to co-conspirators, including Gomez and Castillo Perez, that were substantially above normal rates to transport the contraband shipping containers.
If convicted of all charges, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each conspiracy count, up to 10 years in federal prison for each count of breaking customs seals, and up to 20 years in prison for each smuggling count.
To date, law enforcement has seized more than $1.3 billion worth of counterfeit goods associated with this and similar seal-swapping schemes, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
[Related: Alleged diesel theft ring in New Jersey hit with racketeering charges]
