The Snakehead
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55 Whenever people asked: The encounter between Occhipinti and Sister Ping was recounted to me by Joe Occhipinti, June 7, 2007.
56 It became part of her lore: Before meeting Occhipinti and hearing the story firsthand, I heard several versions of it from other current and former immigration officers.
CHAPTER 4: DAI LO OF THE FUK CHING
This chapter draws on interviews with numerous current and former law enforcement officials, from the FBI, the NYPD, and the Manhattan district attorneys office, in addition to the transcript of the Senate Investigations Subcommittee interview with Benny Ong and the transcripts of testimony by Ah Kay at two different trials.
57.One autumn day in 1991: Inter view with Dan Rinzel, formerly of the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations, November 12, 2007.
57 “My name Benny Ong”: Quotes from the investigator’s interview with Benny Ong are taken from a transcript of the testimony of Benny Ong in “Asian Organized Crime,” pp. 145–51.
57.Born the seventh: Biographical material on Benny Ong is drawn from Michael Daly, “The War for China town,” New York, February 14, 1983; Anthony DeStefano, “Federal Investigators Probe Asian Gangs,” Newsday, November 18, 1993; Anthony DeStefano, “‘Adviser’ Holds Court, Lies Low,” Newsday, February 14, 1993; Peg Tyre, “Final Curtain for Godfather’ of China town?” Newsday, July 28, 1994; Rose Kim, “Godfather’ of Chinatown Dies,” Newsday, August 7, 1994; Rick Hampson, “Death Comes to The Godfather,’” Associated Press, August 8, 1994; Douglas Martin, “After Benny Ong, Silence in Chinatown,” New York Times, August 8, 1994; Molly Gordy, “Chinatown Mourning Godfather,” Newsday, August 17, 1994; Molly Gordy and Mae Cheng, “Paying Last Respects,” Newsday, Au gust 18, 1994; Eleanor Randolph, “Last Respects for The Godfather,’” Washington Post, August 19, 1994; Mae Cheng, “Mourning ‘Uncle 7,’” Newsday, August 20, 1994; John Kifner, “Benny Ong: A Farewell to All That,” New York Times, August 21, 1994; Molly Gordy, “Hong Kong Connection,” Newsday, November 3, 1994.
58.The word tong: Interviews with Ko-lin Chin, November 3, 2005. On tongs, their history, and their role in China town society, see Kwong, The New Chinatown, particularly chaps. 5 and 6; Kwong and Miščević, Chinese America, pp. 86–87; Ko-lin Chin, Chinatown Gangs: Extortion, Enterprise & Ethnicity (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), introduction; Jane H. Lii, “Tongs and Gangs: Shifting the Links,” New York Times, August 21, 1994.
59.In The Gangs of New York: Herbert Asbury, The Gangs of New York (New York: Thunders Mouth, 1998 [1927]), chap. 14. Also see Eng Ying Gong and Bruce Grant, Tong War! (New York: N. L. Brown, 1930).
60.The Flying Dragons did the dirty work: Booth, Dragon Syndicates, pp. 305–6.
60 But on the occasions: The Golden Star Tearoom shooting was a famous episode, much written about at the time. See Daly, “The War for Chinatown.” (In insisting that he would never have ordered such a massacre, Ong offered a homespun elaboration: “Shoot one guy, easy, nobody knows. Shoot many people, everybody knows. Trouble.”)
61 High above, on a terrace: Kifner, “Benny Ong: A Farewell to All That.”
61 “The Chinese community is afraid”: Testimony of Kenneth Chu, aka Johnny Wong, former member, Ghost Shadows gang and On Leong tong, in “Asian Organized Crime,” p. 35.
61 Tong leaders of Ong’s generation: T. J. English, Born to Kill: The Rise and Fall of America’s Bloodiest Asian Gang (New York: Avon, 1995), pp. 55–58.
62 “There are no norms”: John Kifner, “Asian Gangs in New York—A Special Report,” New York Times, January 6, 1991.
62.The 1960 census showed: Richard Bernstein, “Violent Youth Gangs of Chinatown Reflect Tensions of Complex Society,” New York Times, December 24, 1982.
63.“You gotta be strong”: Joseph O’Brien and Andris Kurins, Boss of Bosses: The FBI and Paul Castellano (New York: Dell, 1991), p. 215.
63 A gang of Vietnamese teenagers: On the BTK gang, see English, Born to Kill.
63 A BTK funeral: Donatella Lorch, “Mourners Returned Fire, Police Say,” New York Times, July 30, 1990.
64 On the Fourth of July: Jacques Steinberg, “Tourist in Car Killed as She Chances Upon Chinatown Gunfight,” New York Times, July 6, 1991.
64 It was a stray bullet: Metro News Brief, “Queens Man Convicted in Chinatown Killing,” New York Times, February 14, 1998.
64 For police and prosecutors: Interview with Luke Rettler of the Manhattan district attorneys office, December 8, 2005.
65 “I would have my kids”: Frederic Dannen, “Revenge of the Green Dragons,” The New Yorker, November 16, 1992.
65 One day in 1981: Ah Kay went by several different names. Guo Liang Qi, or Guo Liang Chi, is the Mandarin Chinese transliteration of his name, which he used when he first arrived in the United States. But he also used spellings that more closely approximated the Fujianese pronunciation of his name, Kwok Ling-Kay or Kwok Leung-Kee, both of which were adopted by law enforcement and immigration authorities at various times. For ease, I refer to him the way everyone in Chinatown and law enforcement did: as Ah Kay.
65 Born to a humble family: The details of Ah Kay’s arrival and early years in the United States are drawn from Ah Kay’s testimony in United States v. Zhang Zi Da and Zhang Zi Mei, 96 CR 44 (1996) (hereafter Ah Kay testimony, Zhang Zi trial).
66 The precise origins: Dannen, “Revenge of the Green Dragons.”
66 There were a few members: Unless otherwise noted, details about the behavior and activities of the Fuk Ching gang are drawn from interviews with Bill McMurry and Konrad Motyka on October 31, 2005, and December 15, 2005.
67 If you wanted to open a restaurant: “Asian Organized Crime,” p. 103.
68 At the Chinese New Year: Ibid., p. 51.
68 It was not unusual: Interview with Ray Kerr, former head of the FBI’s C-6 squad, May 22, 2007.
68 Nevertheless, the Fuk Ching: Interview with Dougie Lee, February 10, 2006; interview with Konrad Motyka and Bill McMurry, October 31, 2005; interview with Joseph Pollini, formerly of NYPD, June 7, 2007.
68 With their connections: William Kleinknecht, Charles M. Sennott, and Dean Chang, “Empire of Terror,” New York Daily News, June 20, 1993.
68 From his early days: Interview with Luke Rettler, May 30, 2008; Ah Kay testimony, Zhang Zi trial.
68 In the spring of 1984: Details of the murder of Steven Lim are drawn from Ah Kay testimony, Sister Ping trial and Zhang Zi trial.
68.To Ah Kay: Confidential source.
69.For their own survival: Inter view with Luke Rettler, December 8, 2005.
69 Bank accounts were uncommon: Ibid.
69 One day in 1985: The account of Ah Kay’s robbery of Sister Ping’s house in Brooklyn is drawn from Ah Kay testimony, Sister Ping trial and Zhang Zi trial, from Sister Ping’s sentencing remarks, and from written responses from Sister Ping.
70 Years later a prosecutor: closing arguments by Leslie Brown in United States v. Cheng Chui Ping, aka “Sister Ping,” 94 CR 953 (hereafter closing arguments of Leslie Brown, Sister Ping trial).
70 When Luke Rettler: Interview with Luke Rettler, December 8, 2005.
71 Rettler joined the office: Interview with Luke Rettler, July 26, 2007.
71 One problem with the extortion cases: Interview with Tom Trautman of the FBI, May 3, 2007.
71 With his languid movements: Virtually every FBI agent I spoke with who had spent any time with Ah Kay testified to his charisma. Konrad Motyka, Bill McMurry, and Tom Trautman all described what they perceive as his natural leadership abilities.
71 Once when they patted: Interview with Joseph Pollini, June 7, 2007.
72 Still, everyone slips up: The account of Ah Kay’s extortion of Charlie Kwok and his arrest by Dougie Lee is drawn from an interview with Dougie Lee, February 10, 2006, and Ah Kay testimony, Sister Ping trial and Zhang Zi trial.
72 The massacres at Tiananmen: Ah Kay testimony, Sister Ping trial and Zhang Zi trial; and Faison, South of the Clouds, p. 120.
72 By the ti
me Ah Kay: Interview with Bill McMurry and Konrad Motyka, October 21, 2005.
72.Foochow Paul had left: Dannen, “Revenge of the Green Dragons.”
73.“Why did Bush step down?”: Confidential source.
73 Ah Kay had an older brother: Interview with Bill McMurry and Konrad Motyka, December 15, 2005; hearing transcript in United States of America v. Kwok Ling Kay, et al., 93 Cr. 783, October 12, 1993.
73 “If Ah Kay said”: Testimony of Tu Wei Chung in State of New Jersey v. Dan Xin Lin, et. al., Bergen County (1995) (hereafter the Teaneck trial).
73 Ah Kay was attended: Sentencing hearing in United States v. Kwok Ling Kay, 93 Cr. 783 (JSM), December 4, 1998; report of an interview of Ronald Chao, aka China Man, by members of the FBI and Teaneck Police Department, April 5, 1994.
74 The most unlikely member: Unless otherwise noted, details relating to Alan Tam and his role in the gang are drawn from Alan Tam’s testimony in State of New Jersey v. Dan Xin Lin, et al., Bergen County (1995) (hereafter, Alan Tam testimony, Teaneck trial); interviews with Luke Rettler on December 8, 2005, and June 26, 2007; interviews with Bill McMurry and Konrad Motyka on October 31, 2005, and December 15, 2005; and a brief telephone conversation with Alan Tam on November 1, 2007.
74 He was, in the words: Interview with Bill McMurry, December 15, 2005.
74 All the money the gang: The dollar figure is from Alan Tam testimony, the Teaneck trial; the other expenses and the trick with the BMWs come from an interview with Bill McMurry and Konrad Motyka, December 15, 2005.
74.They hung out, got high: Alan Tam testimony, the Teaneck trial.
75.Their turf consisted of: Ah Kay testimony, Sister Ping trial.
75 And they policed that turf: Interview with Chauncey Parker, formerly of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York, May 29, 2007; sealed complaint, United States v. Ronald Chao, aka “Chinaman,” 93 Mag. 1881, August 25, 1993.
75 The gang had operated: Ah Kay testimony, Zhang Zi trial.
75 He elected to open: Tom Robbins, “The Biz Man and the Thug,” New York Daily News, June 20, 1993.
75 The grand opening was: Details concerning the shootout are drawn from the “Declaration of Thomas Trautman” in the criminal complaint in United States v. Lee Fai Gam, aka “Frankie Lee,” 93 Mag. 2224, October 19, 1993.
76 Governor Mario Cuomo: Robbins. “The Biz Man and the Thug.”
76 At the same time: Pamela Burdman, “Inside the Chinese Smuggling Rings,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 23, 1993. See also testimony of Detective Kenneth Yates, Combined Forces Asian Investigative Unit, Metropolitan Toronto Police Department, “Asian Organized Crime: The New International Criminal,” hearing before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, June 18 and August 4, 1992 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1992), p. 28.
76 “It is unfair to blacken”: Cited in Ko-lin Chin, “The Social Organization of Chinese Human Smuggling,” in Kyle and Koslowski, Global Human Smuggling, p. 222.
76 He raised money: Chan and Dao, “Merchants of Misery.”
76 But from its opening: Robbins, “The Biz Man and the Thug.”
76.At the DA’s office: Interview with Luke Rettler, December 8, 2005. Konrad Motyka and Bill McMurry echoed this view that the Fuk Ching and the Fukienese American Association inverted the standard tong-gang dynamic during these years.
77.A Senate subcommittee found: “Asian Organized Crime,” p. 113.
77 It outlined the close: Ibid., p. 68.
77 On New Year’s Eve 1990: All details of Fang Kin Wah’s kidnapping and subsequent experience in court are drawn from an interview with Joseph Pollini, June 7, 2007; an interview with Luke Rettler, July 26, 2007; and the opinion in People v. Hok Ming Chan, 230 A.D.2d 165 (1997).
80 After the police showed up: Interview with Joseph Pollini, June 7, 2007.
80 When it proved too difficult: Interview with Christine Leung of NYPD, June 8, 2007.
80 “It was a better business”: Interview with Steven Wong, November 11, 2005.
CHAPTER 5: SWIFTWATER
This chapter is based primarily on an-interview with Niagara County investgator Ed Garde and on an extraordinary trove of documents that fill several boxes at the Niagara County Sheriffs Office: original investigation reports from Operation Swiftwater, crime scene photos, and transcripts from multiple interviews with Richard Kephart and James Dullan. The material on Sister Ping’s role in the Niagara route is drawn from interviews with Patrick Devine of the INS, Peter Lee of the FBI, and Larry Hay of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and on Hays original handwritten investigation notes. Finally, the transcripts and court records documenting the legal cases of Sister Ping and Cheung Yick Tak are now maintained by the National Archives and provided a great deal of valuable material.
81 On January 3, 1989: Unless otherwise indicated, details of the Swiftwater investigation and the Cheng family’s Niagara operation come from interviews conducted with Sheriff Tom Beilein and investigator Ed Garde at the Niagara County Sheriffs Office on July 11, 2007.
81 They rolled the body: The description of the body is based on a series of Niagara County crime scene photographs.
81 The woman’s body: “Floater (female) Autopsy Report,” Niagara County Supplementary Report, ECMC# Mex-1-89, January 4, 1989.
81 Not far away, the officers found: Constance L. Hays, “Four Illegal Asian Immigrants Are Believed to Have Drowned in River,” New York Times, January 6, 1989.
82 From the woman’s luggage: Niagara County Addendum Report, “Jane Doe, Youngstown,” CR 89-CR-5-1, RL 182, January 3, 1989.
82 Two days earlier: INS memorandum of investigation, “Malaysian Investigation,” File Number BUF 50/34, January 3, 1989; INS, “Operation Swiftwater.”
82 When the woman’s body: INS, “Operation Swiftwater.”
82 Ed Garde called: INS memorandum of investigation, “Malaysian Investigation,” January 5, 1989. These details were confirmed in an interview with Steven Gleit on November 15, 2007.
83 In 1904 the Buffalo Times: Kwong and Miščević, Chinese America, p. 143.
83 Hong Kong residents: John F. Bonfatti, “INS Arrests Nine in Alleged Immigrant Smuggling Rings,” Associated Press, May 5, 1989.
83 By the time Haw Wang: Testimony of Detective Kenneth Yates, Combined Forces Investigative Unit, Metropolitan Toronto Police Department, in “Asian Organized Crime,” p. 27.
83 The previous July: Gene Warner, “’88 Deaths in River Broke Grip of Smuggling Ring,” Buffalo News, September 17, 1989.
83 On January 3: All details in this paragraph, including the identification of Cheung Yick Tak, are drawn from INS, “Operation Swiftwater.”
84 But when they ran: INS memorandum of investigation, “Rafters—Lew,” File Number BUF 50/34, undated.
84 A search of his toll records: INS memorandum of investigation, “Malaysian Investigation,” March 6, 1989.
84 Kephart was a cabdriver: INS, “Operation Swiftwater.”
84 “You know what this”: Testimony of Richard Kephart in US v. Yick Tak Cheung, Wai Wei Cheng, et al., CR90-113 (1990) (hereafter Kephart testimony).
84 The investigators took Kephart: Testimony of Special Agent Peter F. Hoelter in US v. Yick Tak Cheung, Wai Wei Cheng, et al., CR90-113 (1990).
84 One evening the previous August: Niagara Regional Police Force supplementary report, May 15, 1989.
84 There he met three Asian men: Unless otherwise noted, the details of Kephart’s encounter with Paul and first and subsequent smuggling runs are drawn from an INS transcript, interview with Richard Kephart, April 13, 1989.
85 “He’d come out”: Kephart testimony.
85 Yick Tak was businesslike: Testimony of James Dullan in US v. Yick Tak Cheung, Wai Wei Cheng, et al., CR90-113 (1990) (hereafter, Dullan testimony).
85 He always passed: Ibid.
85 He met Yick Tak: Kephart testimony.
85 Paul certainly
spent: INS transcript, interview with Richard Kephart by Special Agent Peter Hoelter, April 18, 1989.
85.He was a risk-taker: INS transcript, interview with James Dullan, un dated.
86.Paul’s favorite expression: Ibid.
86 He told Dullan: Ibid.
86 After a few trips: INS transcript, interview with Richard Kephart, April 13, 1989.
86 He had made “millions”: Ibid.
86 Through the course of the fall: Ibid.
86 Paul said that when: INS transcript, interview with James Dullan, undated.
87 Once when they were: INS transcript, interview with James Dullan, April 13, 1989.
87 The cabbies were impressed: INS transcript, interview with Richard Kephart, April 13, 1989.
87 As fall became winter: INS transcript, interview with James Dullan, undated.
87 “The river is rough”: Transcript, INS and Niagara Regional Police Force interview with Richard Kephart, April 18, 1989.
87 On the night of December 30: INS memorandum of investigation, “Malaysian Investigation,” March 10, 1989.
87 He could see the light: Transcript, INS and Niagara Regional Police Force interview with Richard Kephart, April 18, 1989.
87 Normally it took Paul: Warner, “88 Deaths in River.”
88 He had been late before: INS transcript, interview with James Dullan, undated.
88 Then they heard something: Ibid. Kephart initially denied that he thought he heard a scream, but then conceded that indeed he had. INS transcript, interview with Richard Kephart, April 13, 1989.
88 “That might have come”: INS transcript, interview with James Dullan, April 13, 1989.
88 Dullan could tell: Ibid.
88 They kept waiting: INS memorandum of investigation, “Malaysian Investigation,” March 6, 1989.
88 Paul had gone down to the river: Transcript, INS and Niagara Regional Police Force interview with Richard Kephart, April 18, 1989.
88 “The raft overturned”: Ibid.
88.There had been four: Warner, “88 Deaths in River.”
89.Sometimes Paul used: Ibid.
89 They never made it: Ibid.