9 charged for smuggling $200M worth of counterfeit items through San Pedro Bay ports, feds say
Federal authorities say the defendants imported goods such as shoes, perfumes, handbags and watches from August 2023 to June 2024.
Nine people were charged Monday for their alleged roles in operating a smuggling ring of counterfeit items from China that made their way through the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports, according to authorities.
Federal authorities say the defendants imported more than $200 million worth of counterfeit goods, including shoes, perfumes, handbags and watches, from August 2023 to June 2024.
When their containers were flagged for "off-site secondary inspection," the defendants would work together to take the cargo to one of their warehouses, break the security seal, replace the contraband with other cargo, and reseal them, according to the Department of Justice.
They'd then have the container sent to a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol-authorized location for inspection.
Investigators have since seized $130 million in counterfeit items from the defendants, including $20 million during a raid of one of their warehouses in June 2024, federal authorities said.
“Secure seaports and borders are critical to our national security,” said United States Attorney Joseph T. McNally. “The smuggling of huge amounts of contraband from China through our nation’s largest port hurts American businesses and consumers."
The defendants, Weijun Zheng, 57, of Diamond Bar; Hexi Wang, 32, of El Monte; Jin “Mark” Liu, 42, of Irvine; Dong “Liam” Lin, 31; Marck Anthony Gomez, 49, of West Covina; Andy Estuardo Castillo Perez, 32, of Apple Valley; Jesse James Rosales, 41, of Apple Valley; Daniel Acosta Hoffman, 41, of Hacienda Heights; and Galvin Biao Liufu, 33, of Ontario, were charged with conspiracy, smuggling and breaking customs seals.
Wang, Liu, Lin, Gomez, Perez, Rosales, Hoffman, and Liufu, have been arrested. Law enforcement agents, meanwhile, are still searching for Zheng, who they say controls several logistic companies in the LA area.
If convicted of the charges, the defendants could face a maximum of five years in federal prison for each conspiracy count, 10 years for each count related to breaking customs seals, and 20 years for each smuggling count, according to the DOJ.
“Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles and its partners are committed to enforcing customs laws and practices, facilitating legitimate trade, and protecting the integrity of the nation’s supply chain,” Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang said in a statement. “The $1.3 billion dollars’ worth of contraband seized during the investigation into this type of scheme illuminates how complex smuggling schemes try to exploit our legitimate trade practices and the American consumer.”
We need your support.
Subcribe to the Watchdog today.
The Long Beach Watchdog is owned by journalists, and paid for by readers like you. If independent, local reporting like the story you just read is important to you, support our work by becoming a subscriber.
