WEBVTT - Episode 3: What’s a Friend? 0:00:15.411 --> 0:00:22.531 Pushkin. Hey everyone, before we get into this episode, I 0:00:22.570 --> 0:00:24.290 wanted to let you know that you can listen to 0:00:24.331 --> 0:00:28.011 the full season of The Chinatownstaning add free right now. 0:00:28.371 --> 0:00:32.371 By signing up for Pushkin Plus. You'll also get bonus episodes, 0:00:32.771 --> 0:00:36.330 full audiobooks, and other true crime binges from your favorite 0:00:36.371 --> 0:00:40.531 Pushkin hosts and authors. Find Pushkin Plus on the Chinatownsting 0:00:40.771 --> 0:00:45.051 Show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin dot fm, 0:00:45.091 --> 0:00:49.611 slash Plus. Previously on The Chinatownsting. 0:00:50.691 --> 0:00:54.931 Asian criminal groups are emerging on the American landscape. Law 0:00:55.051 --> 0:00:59.091 enforcement authorities, particularly federal cannot afford to wait until these 0:00:59.171 --> 0:01:01.491 organizations have fully emmerged. 0:01:02.491 --> 0:01:05.851 If I had to summarize why these gangs exist, I 0:01:05.890 --> 0:01:10.291 can summarize it in one word. Racism. That is the cool. 0:01:10.530 --> 0:01:13.611 The root of the issue is racism. 0:01:13.931 --> 0:01:17.691 Are you crying, Yeah, because that was mad. 0:01:18.571 --> 0:01:21.851 Not at yourself, not at the rules. 0:01:21.371 --> 0:01:22.691 Well, the whole thing everything. 0:01:28.211 --> 0:01:30.690 When Tina Wang was eleven years old, she met another 0:01:30.771 --> 0:01:33.611 kid with an incredible knack for getting others to do 0:01:33.691 --> 0:01:37.891 things they wouldn't normally do. Tina remembers they met while 0:01:37.931 --> 0:01:40.651 they were playing a game they called Chinese jump rope. 0:01:41.291 --> 0:01:44.530 You put rubber bands together until you make a long 0:01:44.611 --> 0:01:46.251 rubber band and then you got to jump over it 0:01:46.451 --> 0:01:47.411 some like that. 0:01:48.091 --> 0:01:50.771 And then she came over with her friend. They go, oh, 0:01:50.891 --> 0:01:51.611 what's your name. 0:01:53.971 --> 0:01:56.571 Wah was a year older than Tina. She wore bell 0:01:56.571 --> 0:01:59.531 bottomed jeans. She had shoes with big rubber soles called 0:01:59.611 --> 0:02:04.371 marshmallow shoes. For Tina, it was friend love at first sight. 0:02:05.171 --> 0:02:09.091 Yeah, she was very cute. How so she was just 0:02:09.171 --> 0:02:11.331 a very good looking. 0:02:12.451 --> 0:02:14.491 A lot of people said, you know, though she was 0:02:14.531 --> 0:02:18.731 good looking, she was good looking, and she was always 0:02:18.851 --> 0:02:23.211 uh stylish, and she was always fashionable. 0:02:25.011 --> 0:02:27.691 Wah's family had immigrated to the US from China when 0:02:27.731 --> 0:02:31.091 she was six. That was right around nineteen sixty five, 0:02:31.691 --> 0:02:36.291 when ethnic immigration quotas were finally banned. Wah's family lived 0:02:36.291 --> 0:02:39.651 in Little Italy, but she and Tina hung out in Chinatown, 0:02:39.891 --> 0:02:42.131 just a few blocks over. They would go to the 0:02:42.171 --> 0:02:45.331 movies together or to the Chinatown Fair, which was actually 0:02:45.371 --> 0:02:45.931 an arcade. 0:02:46.651 --> 0:02:50.171 They had a like a ferris wheel for one, but 0:02:50.251 --> 0:02:51.891 we used to put like two people in there. 0:02:52.050 --> 0:02:52.971 Oh huh. 0:02:53.011 --> 0:02:55.210 It was like ten cents to go around. 0:02:55.531 --> 0:02:55.891 Uh huh. 0:02:56.291 --> 0:02:57.491 It was pretty fun. 0:02:58.651 --> 0:03:01.051 Wa has sisters and brothers, but her and her sister 0:03:01.211 --> 0:03:05.411 used to fight a lot, so I don't know, we 0:03:05.571 --> 0:03:06.131 just clicked. 0:03:09.491 --> 0:03:12.291 When she was little, Tina got picked on sometimes because 0:03:12.331 --> 0:03:14.331 she was one of the few Chinese kids at her school. 0:03:15.050 --> 0:03:17.931 After immigration opened up, she got picked on sometimes by 0:03:17.971 --> 0:03:21.091 the new kids because she was only half Chinese. But 0:03:21.131 --> 0:03:24.691 when she met Wah, she found her place. Wah was 0:03:24.691 --> 0:03:25.370 the ring leader. 0:03:26.171 --> 0:03:30.091 Sometime we would go like uptown. We would go shopping 0:03:31.291 --> 0:03:34.171 on fourteenth Street or thirty fourth Street. 0:03:34.171 --> 0:03:36.811 For what it's for, like clothes, and. 0:03:36.851 --> 0:03:40.611 Wall was like the direct of what we should wear. 0:03:41.731 --> 0:03:43.811 So you would go shopping and she'd be like, don't 0:03:43.851 --> 0:03:45.211 get that shirt, get this shirt. 0:03:45.331 --> 0:03:48.291 No, get this, it's nice, it looks good on you. Well, 0:03:48.331 --> 0:03:49.291 cut your hair like this. 0:03:49.931 --> 0:03:53.611 She is a bossy person, but we didn't mind because 0:03:53.651 --> 0:03:56.371 she was funny. She was fun to hang out with. 0:03:56.451 --> 0:03:56.651 You know. 0:03:58.211 --> 0:04:02.611 They sometimes got into some light trouble cutting school, smoking weed, 0:04:03.091 --> 0:04:05.651 getting rides in the back of some guy's truck, holding 0:04:05.691 --> 0:04:08.411 on with ropes. What was your guys' reputation? 0:04:08.811 --> 0:04:11.931 We would the uh cool girls for the poor girls 0:04:12.131 --> 0:04:14.811 because we all didn't really have money. 0:04:15.491 --> 0:04:17.371 One time, their click was mentioned in one of the 0:04:17.450 --> 0:04:21.011 Chinatown newspapers. It was just in passing. Tina doesn't even 0:04:21.051 --> 0:04:24.251 remember exactly why, but she does remember that the reporter 0:04:24.371 --> 0:04:24.851 gave them a. 0:04:24.931 --> 0:04:31.771 Nickname they put in the newspaper, Pink Eagles, and we 0:04:31.771 --> 0:04:34.010 were laughing. They go, who gave us that name? 0:04:34.690 --> 0:04:37.931 Why? The pink Eagles? Because did you guys even wear pink? 0:04:38.451 --> 0:04:38.611 No? 0:04:38.811 --> 0:04:39.570 You didn't like it. 0:04:40.331 --> 0:04:44.011 No, that's like so like for me, childish, I don't know. 0:04:45.371 --> 0:04:47.851 To Tina, it didn't sound as cool as the actual 0:04:47.891 --> 0:04:53.690 gang names, like, for example, the Flying Dragons. As Tina 0:04:53.731 --> 0:04:56.211 talked about Wat, it made me think about how when 0:04:56.251 --> 0:04:58.891 you become friends with someone when you're growing up, they 0:04:58.931 --> 0:05:02.771 actually helped determine who you grow into. And when that happens, 0:05:03.171 --> 0:05:04.971 there will always be a part of them in you, 0:05:05.690 --> 0:05:11.531 whether you like it or not. I'm Lyddia Jean Cott. 0:05:12.291 --> 0:05:16.531 This is the Chinatown Staying Episode three, What's a Friend. 0:05:27.651 --> 0:05:30.171 When Tina and Wall were in their twenties, as sometimes 0:05:30.211 --> 0:05:33.291 happens with childhood best friends, they drifted out of touch, 0:05:33.811 --> 0:05:36.010 but then Wah reached out. 0:05:36.291 --> 0:05:40.291 She heard that I had a daughter, so I think 0:05:40.331 --> 0:05:44.330 she contacted me somehow. She gave my daughter like a 0:05:44.331 --> 0:05:46.811 little bracelet, and then we started hanging back again. 0:05:47.651 --> 0:05:50.851 They were having fun in the Majan parlors, and soon 0:05:51.171 --> 0:05:54.851 Wah had a request Katina accept a package for Wall 0:05:55.131 --> 0:05:59.130 in the mail. She'd pay her a lot. Of course, 0:05:59.331 --> 0:06:02.450 the box is filled with heroin, but the money was good. 0:06:03.611 --> 0:06:05.691 While invaded Tina on a trip to Asia with her, 0:06:06.131 --> 0:06:09.411 they actually met up with Johnny ng There aka Missie 0:06:09.411 --> 0:06:12.971 Sheen Gun Johnny or Onion Head, the leader of the 0:06:13.011 --> 0:06:17.731 powerful Flying Dragons Gang. Tina says she wasn't that impressed. 0:06:18.331 --> 0:06:22.171 He was like Waa's friend. I mean, he was nice. 0:06:22.211 --> 0:06:26.531 She bought us like drinks and stuff and took us 0:06:26.611 --> 0:06:30.571 like on a tour of Indonesia, which was. 0:06:31.091 --> 0:06:31.611 That's all right. 0:06:32.651 --> 0:06:35.371 After that trip, Tina started to get a bad feeling. 0:06:36.091 --> 0:06:38.811 This time Wa was pulling her into a world she 0:06:38.851 --> 0:06:41.371 shouldn't be a part of, while was asking her to 0:06:41.411 --> 0:06:44.411 receive more and more packages, and Tina didn't want to. 0:06:45.091 --> 0:06:47.131 Wah had gotten to bossy. 0:06:47.690 --> 0:06:49.931 And I just didn't want to take it no more. 0:06:50.611 --> 0:06:55.091 So I just I guess she stopped calling me. I 0:06:55.131 --> 0:06:57.011 stopped calling her. 0:06:57.851 --> 0:07:00.330 This was the only time they had ever really fought. 0:07:00.531 --> 0:07:03.531 She thought they'd make up, but about five months later, 0:07:03.891 --> 0:07:06.691 federal agents showed up at Tina's door and they took 0:07:06.731 --> 0:07:09.291 her into custody. She hoped WA would help her get 0:07:09.291 --> 0:07:10.411 a lawyer or something. 0:07:11.851 --> 0:07:13.811 She always said that she would help me if anything, 0:07:14.851 --> 0:07:16.571 and no help came, so I said okay. 0:07:18.491 --> 0:07:21.611 In jail, Tina ran into another woman from the Majong parlors. 0:07:22.131 --> 0:07:25.211 That woman had cooperated and given up Tina's name. She 0:07:25.211 --> 0:07:28.411 had agreed to accept packages because she had gambling debts 0:07:28.731 --> 0:07:32.291 and she was the mother of twin girls. Tina forgave her. 0:07:32.811 --> 0:07:34.491 Well, I'm not going to hate her. You know, she 0:07:34.531 --> 0:07:35.451 had to do she had to do. 0:07:36.851 --> 0:07:39.691 The question for Tina was would she also do what 0:07:39.811 --> 0:07:43.171 she had to do. She didn't want to betray her 0:07:43.211 --> 0:07:48.291 old friend Waw. She knew cooperating could be dangerous, but 0:07:48.331 --> 0:07:51.331 if she went to prison, she might not be reunited 0:07:51.531 --> 0:07:53.411 with her baby daughter for decades. 0:07:54.211 --> 0:07:57.211 Of course, you're going to take a chance, even if 0:07:57.211 --> 0:07:59.531 it's on your life, because when it comes to a kid, 0:07:59.971 --> 0:08:01.371 everybody's gonna choose their kid. 0:08:02.691 --> 0:08:05.531 But it's kind of a terrible choice because you could 0:08:05.571 --> 0:08:07.251 get killed and then you're not going to be there 0:08:07.251 --> 0:08:07.811 for your kid. 0:08:08.691 --> 0:08:10.491 Yeah, with those chances you take. 0:08:12.731 --> 0:08:15.211 The day after her arrest, Tina sat in the office 0:08:15.291 --> 0:08:18.651 a federal prosecutor, Beryl Howell. They would face each other 0:08:18.811 --> 0:08:21.811 many times over the next few months. As Tina was 0:08:21.851 --> 0:08:22.491 in custody. 0:08:24.571 --> 0:08:27.891 On March second, nineteen eighty eight, and March fourteenth, nineteen 0:08:27.971 --> 0:08:31.251 eighty eight, Tina Wong was debriefed in the Eastern District 0:08:31.331 --> 0:08:34.491 of New York. Wong stated that she became friends with 0:08:34.651 --> 0:08:38.571 Wah at a young age. In June of nineteen eighty seven. 0:08:39.050 --> 0:08:42.011 Wong said Wa asked her if she would like to 0:08:42.090 --> 0:08:45.091 make some money by accepting male parcels from Hong Kong. 0:08:45.930 --> 0:08:48.930 Wong further stated that Wa gave her a few days 0:08:48.970 --> 0:08:53.290 of advanced notice regarding the arrival of the mail parcel Wong. 0:08:53.970 --> 0:08:58.570 As Tina talked, Beryl listened intently. She took handwritten notes 0:08:58.570 --> 0:09:02.051 with the blue pen. Her questions in one column Tina's 0:09:02.050 --> 0:09:04.771 answers and the other column, you. 0:09:04.731 --> 0:09:07.290 Hope you're getting the whole story. You do your best 0:09:07.330 --> 0:09:09.810 to get the whole story. So you do the best 0:09:09.810 --> 0:09:15.530 you can with both carrots and sticks to ensure that 0:09:15.570 --> 0:09:19.930 you were getting You know the truth and the whole 0:09:19.930 --> 0:09:21.771 truth from cooperators. 0:09:22.530 --> 0:09:24.850 Beryl wanted to know more about Wall as a means 0:09:24.851 --> 0:09:27.851 to an end Her ultimate goal was to bring down 0:09:27.891 --> 0:09:30.810 Johnny Yang, the gangster she believed to be at the 0:09:30.851 --> 0:09:34.771 top of this heroin scheme, but to do that, Beryl 0:09:34.771 --> 0:09:38.651 would need lots of solid evidence against him. All the 0:09:38.690 --> 0:09:41.251 people she had talked to so far were too low 0:09:41.290 --> 0:09:44.771 down in the operation to describe Johnny's role, even Tina. 0:09:45.930 --> 0:09:49.450 But Beryl was pretty sure that Wall was different, that 0:09:49.491 --> 0:09:52.771 she took orders from Johnny directly, in part because she 0:09:52.851 --> 0:09:55.410 seemed to be the one directing all the women, and 0:09:55.450 --> 0:09:59.011 in part because her boyfriend Michael Yu was high up 0:09:59.050 --> 0:10:03.211 in the Flying Dragon's gang. He went by the nickname Fox. 0:10:04.251 --> 0:10:07.610 The hope was that people had some direct contact with 0:10:07.690 --> 0:10:11.850 Johnny Yang would cooperate, and that would have been Wah 0:10:12.210 --> 0:10:12.851 or Michael U. 0:10:14.011 --> 0:10:16.771 So Beryl had Tina's statements about how she accepted these 0:10:16.810 --> 0:10:20.731 packages of heroin at Wah's direction. Beryl had also obtained 0:10:20.771 --> 0:10:24.891 audio recordings of conversations between Wall and another woman who 0:10:24.891 --> 0:10:28.371 had accepted packages of heroin. This woman had agreed to 0:10:28.450 --> 0:10:31.171 call Waw and tell her she had received a package 0:10:31.450 --> 0:10:37.051 while federal agents secretly recorded. The actual recordings are gone, 0:10:37.491 --> 0:10:41.011 but we have the transcripts. My co reporter Shu Yu 0:10:41.050 --> 0:10:44.570 Wang and I read them together. You want to be 0:10:44.810 --> 0:10:49.251 Wall and I'll be the woman. Okay, hello, hello, I 0:10:49.290 --> 0:10:51.450 got that thing at my house so fast. 0:10:52.050 --> 0:10:52.690 Huh. 0:10:52.731 --> 0:10:56.251 But listen, did you see the you know how speak 0:10:56.330 --> 0:10:57.131 pick Latin? 0:10:58.330 --> 0:10:59.251 You must be kidding. 0:10:59.410 --> 0:11:01.971 Yeah, that's to keep it safe. Stupid. 0:11:02.251 --> 0:11:05.771 You know they might have a fucking transmitter or bug. 0:11:05.930 --> 0:11:07.410 You never know, stupid. 0:11:09.011 --> 0:11:11.090 So yeah, as a lawyer, what would you think if 0:11:11.090 --> 0:11:15.090 you were reading this this wire toop whow smart? 0:11:15.530 --> 0:11:18.851 So, like, while this whole time was just trying to 0:11:18.970 --> 0:11:23.330 be very vague and not referring to anything, not using 0:11:23.330 --> 0:11:28.571 any names or terms, like that thing, put it in 0:11:28.611 --> 0:11:31.290 a bag, very vague instructions. 0:11:31.371 --> 0:11:34.290 To the other woman on the line, She's. 0:11:34.170 --> 0:11:38.490 Like, not really communicating any details about the delivery, about 0:11:38.491 --> 0:11:41.571 the drop off location, about what it is, even though 0:11:41.570 --> 0:11:43.331 we all know that is the drug packages. 0:11:43.450 --> 0:11:45.251 She's like, what about pig Latin? So that way, I 0:11:45.251 --> 0:11:49.210 guess she could be like arowin, Hey. 0:11:48.290 --> 0:11:50.931 Yeah, she definitely have heard something or sence something that 0:11:51.011 --> 0:11:51.530 is going on. 0:11:51.690 --> 0:11:51.970 Yeah. 0:11:52.530 --> 0:11:55.851 So, through these wired taps and her conversations with Tina 0:11:55.930 --> 0:11:59.451 and other people, Beryl was gathering this evidence about Wall. 0:11:59.570 --> 0:12:02.570 But I think she was also kind of like trying 0:12:02.611 --> 0:12:05.131 to figure out who this person is and what they're like. 0:12:05.450 --> 0:12:05.651 Right. 0:12:06.090 --> 0:12:09.211 You know, Beryl was a lawyer at a time where 0:12:09.210 --> 0:12:11.891 it was still like not that common to be a 0:12:11.930 --> 0:12:16.331 female prosecutor. And while was this woman who was like 0:12:16.611 --> 0:12:20.811 operating this business, this enterprise that was affiliated with the gangs, 0:12:21.131 --> 0:12:24.450 and there weren't very many other women doing that either. 0:12:24.651 --> 0:12:26.330 Maybe there's a level of resinance. 0:12:26.530 --> 0:12:29.050 Yeah, One thing in the back of my mind is 0:12:29.131 --> 0:12:31.450 how was she able to recruit all of these women 0:12:31.491 --> 0:12:34.251 to do it? And what I found was that she 0:12:34.771 --> 0:12:42.530 was a fun, charismatic, dynamic individual and that's part of 0:12:42.570 --> 0:12:44.771 how she was able to do it, in addition to 0:12:44.810 --> 0:12:47.290 all the other factors that went into them opting to 0:12:47.330 --> 0:12:50.931 say yes all except package for ten to twenty thousand 0:12:50.930 --> 0:12:52.210 dollars or thirty. 0:12:52.810 --> 0:12:55.811 Every single person pretty much who knew why. Most people 0:12:55.810 --> 0:12:59.011 did who I talked to you about this story talked 0:12:59.011 --> 0:13:01.690 about her like she was like this force, like really 0:13:01.731 --> 0:13:04.611 different from other people. I talked to this one guy, 0:13:04.651 --> 0:13:07.530 a former gangster who I don't think i'd talked to 0:13:07.651 --> 0:13:10.050 wall for a long time. I'm not sure, but as 0:13:10.050 --> 0:13:14.251 soon as I brought her up to him, he instantly 0:13:14.290 --> 0:13:15.930 remembered her She's. 0:13:15.731 --> 0:13:17.131 A very very pretty girl. 0:13:17.170 --> 0:13:20.810 Back then, everywhere you go, is you see her? A 0:13:20.810 --> 0:13:23.011 matter of fact, can I show her the picture? 0:13:23.891 --> 0:13:27.130 He literally had a photo on his phone of her 0:13:27.450 --> 0:13:29.410 and it was like all ready to go, like he 0:13:29.450 --> 0:13:31.211 was just able to pull it up immediately, and it 0:13:31.290 --> 0:13:34.091 was a picture of her from the like nineteen eighties. 0:13:34.170 --> 0:13:35.371 Sounds like someone had a crush. 0:13:36.930 --> 0:13:40.010 And in the photo it's like her and her boyfriend 0:13:40.131 --> 0:13:43.811 Michael U known as Fox, and he's kind of like 0:13:43.930 --> 0:13:45.851 leaning back but towards her a little bit. He's like 0:13:45.851 --> 0:13:48.571 a small guy, and she does look super cool. She 0:13:48.651 --> 0:13:51.610 has kind of like a mullet style of haircut that 0:13:51.651 --> 0:13:54.771 I think was cool then, and like some like lip gloss, 0:13:55.851 --> 0:13:58.050 dangly earrings. Definitely cool girl. 0:13:58.170 --> 0:13:59.011 She had a style. 0:13:59.170 --> 0:14:01.851 She just seems larger than life. So yeah, everyone talked 0:14:01.851 --> 0:14:03.930 about Wall like she was special, and I think that's 0:14:03.930 --> 0:14:06.810 why we really wanted to find her. Eventually, I found 0:14:06.810 --> 0:14:11.131 an address in Florida, and I glue to Florida by 0:14:11.170 --> 0:14:17.011 myself literally just to knock on this door. Yes, and 0:14:17.011 --> 0:14:19.330 then this woman opened the door. And I remember this 0:14:19.451 --> 0:14:22.571 because like she was wearing purple contacts. She was absolutely 0:14:22.571 --> 0:14:27.411 beautiful in a bit like threw me off balances. Okay, 0:14:27.411 --> 0:14:30.091 but yeah, Wah was not there, and I was like, 0:14:30.210 --> 0:14:32.330 this is it. I've reached the end of the journey. 0:14:32.970 --> 0:14:34.211 But then what happened. 0:14:35.531 --> 0:14:37.731 At that house? I got a phone number for a while, 0:14:38.210 --> 0:14:41.531 I called it and eventually she agreed to meet up. 0:14:42.171 --> 0:14:44.211 Don't call me on the weekends. Okay, I'm out to 0:14:44.291 --> 0:14:46.691 the city at Lansa City. If you need to go 0:14:46.811 --> 0:14:48.090 there you want to grow much. 0:14:48.251 --> 0:14:50.091 I can get to a room and. 0:14:50.291 --> 0:14:50.811 Where in the city. 0:14:51.011 --> 0:15:08.251 Yeah, we'll be right back. I had heard so much 0:15:08.291 --> 0:15:11.370 about this woman wh who had convinced all these moms 0:15:11.451 --> 0:15:14.891 with young children to smuggle heroine. I wanted to hear 0:15:14.931 --> 0:15:18.451 from her how and why she did it. We're referring 0:15:18.451 --> 0:15:20.371 to her just as Wah because she asked us to 0:15:20.411 --> 0:15:21.451 only use her first name. 0:15:22.531 --> 0:15:22.811 She You. 0:15:23.011 --> 0:15:25.811 And I finally met her at a Peaking Duck restaurant 0:15:25.851 --> 0:15:28.891 in Chinatown. I had put a lot of effort in 0:15:28.931 --> 0:15:31.051 trying to find a quiet place where we could talk. 0:15:31.611 --> 0:15:32.931 Wah hated it. 0:15:33.771 --> 0:15:36.090 Next time go to a seven, saying, wow. 0:15:36.771 --> 0:15:39.251 That's a different restaurant that I apparently should have chosen. 0:15:40.571 --> 0:15:43.691 Waw is in her sixties. She has short, spiky hair. 0:15:44.011 --> 0:15:47.411 She was wearing a leather jacket, tightish pants. She has 0:15:47.491 --> 0:15:51.691 lots of gold jewelry and a dramatic white and beige manicure. 0:15:52.771 --> 0:15:54.971 One person I talked to told me that her theme 0:15:55.051 --> 0:15:58.931 song should be the Madonna song Who's That Girl? And 0:15:59.011 --> 0:16:03.411 she was absolutely living up to the hype. It took 0:16:03.531 --> 0:16:05.611 us months to pin down a time to meet. She 0:16:05.731 --> 0:16:08.771 canceled a few times because she said she had been 0:16:08.811 --> 0:16:11.211 up late the night before gambling. 0:16:12.330 --> 0:16:13.811 I'm already nervous, already. 0:16:14.731 --> 0:16:17.611 Let's start with why do you like gambling? 0:16:18.771 --> 0:16:21.090 Why do I? 0:16:20.330 --> 0:16:20.490 Who? 0:16:21.090 --> 0:16:23.971 I guess when you get older, you get bored, so 0:16:24.090 --> 0:16:26.651 nothing moves you, not even men. 0:16:29.371 --> 0:16:32.691 So that's my drenaline rush. 0:16:32.731 --> 0:16:36.371 That's my excitement, you know, like when you bet, when 0:16:36.371 --> 0:16:40.451 you place money, don't your heartbeat, that's the way it goes. 0:16:40.491 --> 0:16:43.651 That's your adrenaline rush. That's the rush you want. You 0:16:43.771 --> 0:16:44.411 know what I'm saying? 0:16:44.731 --> 0:16:45.531 Yeah, you know? 0:16:45.651 --> 0:16:46.411 I should have quit. 0:16:47.691 --> 0:16:50.611 She did not quit. Over the years, she's been betting 0:16:50.611 --> 0:16:51.370 more and more. 0:16:52.051 --> 0:16:54.130 I play football, baseball. 0:16:54.210 --> 0:16:55.451 Do you watch sports? 0:16:55.851 --> 0:16:55.971 No? 0:16:56.210 --> 0:16:57.011 Only if I bet? 0:16:57.891 --> 0:17:00.651 But why is true? Passion? It's still magong. 0:17:01.371 --> 0:17:04.130 It keeps your mind occupied. You don't have to think 0:17:04.131 --> 0:17:06.531 about anything else. All you do is look at your 0:17:06.571 --> 0:17:10.891 court and you know, focus on it so you can 0:17:11.491 --> 0:17:12.051 you can win. 0:17:12.451 --> 0:17:14.971 You want to win. But if you play for money, 0:17:15.091 --> 0:17:18.931 that's like excitement. If you play for fun, you'd rather 0:17:19.011 --> 0:17:22.571 go to sleep. If you win, yeah, it's good. 0:17:22.691 --> 0:17:26.451 Oh I can't buy buy something now, I have a 0:17:26.451 --> 0:17:30.130 couple of hundred dollars. But if you lose, you, oh 0:17:30.171 --> 0:17:31.851 my god, the win or help? 0:17:31.891 --> 0:17:34.931 Look at the money, right right right? You got to 0:17:34.971 --> 0:17:38.091 go for revenge. 0:17:40.011 --> 0:17:42.571 I've heard that part of what makes masong fun is 0:17:42.611 --> 0:17:45.891 that it's an equal combination of skill and luck. You 0:17:45.931 --> 0:17:47.771 can never predict what will happen next. 0:17:48.611 --> 0:17:51.651 How long does a game take for you or me? 0:17:52.091 --> 0:17:52.771 Yeah? 0:17:52.891 --> 0:17:55.451 I played like twenty four hours. We're be talking about 0:17:56.371 --> 0:17:56.811 if you do. 0:17:56.811 --> 0:17:58.091 Not play twenty four hours? 0:17:58.131 --> 0:18:00.211 Do you sometime? I don't sleep? 0:18:02.051 --> 0:18:04.451 What was comfortable talking to me? And she you about gambling. 0:18:05.011 --> 0:18:07.371 She also told us a bit about her family. She 0:18:07.411 --> 0:18:11.090 has three kids. Asked her about her past involvement with 0:18:11.131 --> 0:18:14.291 the gangs. Suddenly she didn't know a lot. 0:18:14.651 --> 0:18:17.251 Wait, we just hang out with them because they are friends, 0:18:17.331 --> 0:18:20.131 and that's it. That's why we would call gangs. I 0:18:20.131 --> 0:18:20.571 don't know. 0:18:21.371 --> 0:18:23.931 I've heard from other former gang members that if you 0:18:23.971 --> 0:18:27.411 were a member of say the Flying Dragons, you couldn't 0:18:27.411 --> 0:18:31.051 even enter a gambling parlor operated by their rivals, the 0:18:31.051 --> 0:18:34.411 Ghost Shadows. But from how Wall talked, it seemed like 0:18:34.491 --> 0:18:36.051 she didn't really care about these feuds. 0:18:36.811 --> 0:18:40.371 I practically hang out with all the gangs. Almost where 0:18:40.371 --> 0:18:43.411 do you go to school, you know them. All the 0:18:43.491 --> 0:18:46.371 gangs are like good kids. They come out from the 0:18:46.411 --> 0:18:47.051 same school. 0:18:47.371 --> 0:18:48.171 You know them more. 0:18:49.291 --> 0:18:51.931 I've also heard that all the gang members were guys. 0:18:52.371 --> 0:18:55.451 They had girlfriends of course, and wives, but the women 0:18:55.531 --> 0:18:59.451 didn't get involved with their activities. Again, Wall was different. 0:19:00.091 --> 0:19:03.931 Were there other women who were like as powerful as 0:19:03.931 --> 0:19:04.851 you were in like the. 0:19:04.811 --> 0:19:07.971 World of the gangs? I don't think so You're the 0:19:07.971 --> 0:19:09.371 most powerful woman in the world of the gang. 0:19:10.851 --> 0:19:13.611 I think so. 0:19:14.731 --> 0:19:18.451 WA's boyfriend, Michael U aka Fox, was high up in 0:19:18.491 --> 0:19:22.171 the Flying Dragons. He ran the gambling parlor on Pell Street, 0:19:22.491 --> 0:19:25.331 and that parlor was kind of like the gang's headquarters. 0:19:25.811 --> 0:19:29.491 He also oversaw a bunch of other gambling parlors, including 0:19:29.491 --> 0:19:34.411 the Mahjong parlors in Chinatown. Waw sometimes worked at that 0:19:34.451 --> 0:19:37.331 gambling parlor on Pell Street. Her job was to get 0:19:37.331 --> 0:19:40.371 people to keep playing. She also hung out in all 0:19:40.371 --> 0:19:44.171 the other parlors, so she knew everyone. She knew who 0:19:44.291 --> 0:19:47.811 was in debt, whose house might be undergoing renovation, whose 0:19:47.891 --> 0:19:52.691 husband wasn't paying child support, who for whatever reason might 0:19:52.731 --> 0:19:55.531 be interested in receiving a package in the mail in 0:19:55.651 --> 0:19:57.731 exchange for a lot of money. 0:19:59.011 --> 0:20:01.971 First of all, you didn't think of nothing back then 0:20:02.491 --> 0:20:05.531 you're just thinking, oh, seize it'll make money. 0:20:06.651 --> 0:20:10.011 That was it, You know, you didn't think of the outcome. 0:20:11.131 --> 0:20:14.651 Waugh told us she feels terrible about bringing drugs into 0:20:14.691 --> 0:20:17.571 the country, but she does not feel bad for the 0:20:17.611 --> 0:20:20.651 woman who she brought into the scheme. They wanted money 0:20:20.891 --> 0:20:22.491 and they knew they were taking a risk. 0:20:23.331 --> 0:20:25.611 If you're gonna make money, it must be something bad. 0:20:27.051 --> 0:20:29.371 So you got an idea ready. You don't have to 0:20:29.371 --> 0:20:30.371 go into the detail. 0:20:30.851 --> 0:20:33.971 Do you remember when you got arrested? What was that like? 0:20:34.851 --> 0:20:38.251 What's like? What the hell? I was gambling? 0:20:39.451 --> 0:20:42.650 On March first, nineteen eighty eight, the same day that 0:20:42.691 --> 0:20:46.291 Tina Wong was arrested, Wall was having a great day. 0:20:46.931 --> 0:20:50.491 She won seven thousand dollars. But as gonna happen in 0:20:50.571 --> 0:20:53.731 Majong and in life, she was about to lose it. 0:20:53.771 --> 0:20:57.851 All, I'm coming now, I'm looking amber house over there. 0:20:58.331 --> 0:21:01.291 And then I woke around the corner and like five 0:21:01.411 --> 0:21:02.891 six white people, you know. 0:21:02.931 --> 0:21:03.731 Push me in the car. 0:21:04.131 --> 0:21:04.691 What the hell? 0:21:05.371 --> 0:21:07.171 Why? Who are they? You know? 0:21:07.291 --> 0:21:07.731 Right there? 0:21:07.731 --> 0:21:09.331 And then you don't. 0:21:09.091 --> 0:21:10.611 Know, you thought you were being kidnapped. 0:21:10.731 --> 0:21:13.011 Yeah, you walking down the street and there you go 0:21:13.091 --> 0:21:16.291 to call stop right next to you and then wow, 0:21:16.771 --> 0:21:18.811 a couple of guys come out and push you in 0:21:18.811 --> 0:21:21.051 the car just like that and take off. 0:21:21.971 --> 0:21:25.330 What the hell I thought they with the mafia, I 0:21:25.371 --> 0:21:29.851 don't know. And then they drove me to the seaport. Yeah, 0:21:29.931 --> 0:21:32.451