1 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: A diversion audio. A note this episode contains mature content 2 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: and descriptions of violence that may be disturbing for some listeners. 3 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: Please take care in listening. It was a few hours 4 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:32,880 Speaker 1: before dawn on June sixth, nineteen ninety three, as two 5 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:36,919 Speaker 1: Park Service officers patrolled the Rockaway Peninsula beach in Queens, 6 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,519 Speaker 1: this far outside of Manhattan. Only their headlights cut through 7 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:45,239 Speaker 1: the pre dawn darkness. The minchit chatted preparing for an 8 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: uneventful night, when they spotted something moving toward their vehicle. 9 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 1: Two figures stumbled toward them from the beach, waving their 10 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: arms and looking shell shocked. If they got closer, the 11 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: officers could see they were middle aged Asian men, skeletonly thin. 12 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: The officers opened their car doors to help, and that's 13 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: when they heard them the screams coming from the water. 14 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:18,120 Speaker 1: About one hundred yards off shore, a small, rusted cargo 15 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: ship had run aground along the peninsula. From where they 16 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: were standing on the beachfront, the officers could see that 17 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,399 Speaker 1: the boat was about one hundred and fifty feet long 18 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 1: and the deck was crowded with people, far too many 19 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:36,919 Speaker 1: people for any sanctioned voyage. As they ran toward the waterline. 20 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: The officers watched the panic stricken passengers jump over the 21 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 1: side of the vessel, tumbling twenty feet down into the 22 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:48,760 Speaker 1: dark waves below. It may have been a warm New 23 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: York summer, but the ocean water was only fifty three degrees, 24 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: well within hypothermia range. Clearly, these men and women were 25 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: not well. They screamed for help in the crashing black waves, 26 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: and those who made it to the shore stumbled out 27 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: and vomited up sea water from their distended bellies. Those 28 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,919 Speaker 1: who weren't as strong or nourished went into cardiac arrest 29 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: when they hit the water. The officers called in back 30 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: up and administered aid, but there was only so much 31 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:24,760 Speaker 1: they could do. By morning, the shipwreck was all over 32 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:29,359 Speaker 1: the news. Helicopters circled the crash site, beaming live footage 33 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:34,799 Speaker 1: onto television screens across the city. Questions piled up, who 34 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,959 Speaker 1: were these starving shipwrecked travelers, how did they get here? 35 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: And who was behind this. One of the many New 36 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: Yorkers watching the news footage that morning was Ching Choiping, 37 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 1: a stout woman in her mid forties who spoke almost 38 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:55,639 Speaker 1: no English. She sat inside a small shop in Manhattan's 39 00:02:55,680 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: Chinatown eyes glued to the TV. To most, Ching Choi 40 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: Ping was an unassuming shopkeeper who sold clothes and goods 41 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: imported from China. She wore modest clothing and had the 42 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: demeanor of someone barely getting by in the big city. 43 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: But to those who truly knew her, Ching Choi Ping 44 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: was someone else Entirely. Along with her other identity came 45 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:27,919 Speaker 1: another name, Sister Ping. And Sister Ping knew exactly where 46 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:31,639 Speaker 1: those shipwrecked passengers had come from and how they got 47 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: to New York. She knew because she was the one 48 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: who brought them here. Welcome to the greatest true crime 49 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: stories ever told. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, author of the 50 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 1: true crime book Madame Queen, the Life and crimes of 51 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: Harlem's underground racketeer Stephanie Sinclair. Today's episode we're calling the 52 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: Snakehead of Chinatown. It's a story about desperation, ambition, and 53 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:22,919 Speaker 1: the shadowy world of human smuggling. It's about the links 54 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: people will go in search of a better life and 55 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: those who build their empires by making that journey possible. 56 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:33,600 Speaker 1: We'll get into all of it right after this quick break. 57 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:55,279 Speaker 1: Stories of dangerous immigration are all around us in America 58 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,919 Speaker 1: if you look for them. The circumstances that are easiest 59 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: for me to understand are the ones portrayed in television 60 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 1: shows because they have clear narrative arcs, even though that's 61 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:11,279 Speaker 1: not how any situation exists in life. Remember the horror 62 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: movie His House or the Oregon Trail Limited series eighteen 63 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: eighty three. Those survivalist types of narratives make those of 64 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: us who have never been in that dire of a 65 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:28,159 Speaker 1: situation wonder how bad did it have to get before 66 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:31,720 Speaker 1: you put yourself through this on a chance of changing it. 67 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 1: I mean, you heard the top of the episode. What 68 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:38,919 Speaker 1: would have to happen before you risked your life like that? 69 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: So let's talk about Sister Ping. Well, before we get 70 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:45,720 Speaker 1: into it, let me just apologize in advance. I am 71 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: truly trying my best with the pronunciations, and I know 72 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 1: I'm going to get some wrong, but please know I 73 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 1: am trying to get them right. Ching Choi Ping, or 74 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:58,479 Speaker 1: Sister Ping, as i'll call her from now on, was 75 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:02,800 Speaker 1: born in nineteen forty nine to a humble home life. 76 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:06,839 Speaker 1: Her parents came from a small village in China's Fujian Province, 77 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:11,359 Speaker 1: where life was simple, and opportunities for upward mobility were few. 78 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:14,839 Speaker 1: Little is known about her childhood years, but as a 79 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:18,240 Speaker 1: young adult, Sister Ping did the thing everyone in her 80 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:21,680 Speaker 1: life expected her to do. She married a meek but 81 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: responsible fishermen from a neighboring village. The two lived a 82 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 1: quiet life together in the early years of their marriage, 83 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:32,120 Speaker 1: subsisting off the fish he caught in their meager profits. 84 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: But sometime in the mid seventies, the couple left China 85 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:40,760 Speaker 1: for Hong Kong in search of better opportunities. There, Sister 86 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: Ping scraped together to open a convenience store and garnered 87 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: a reputation for her good business sense. She also gave 88 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:52,480 Speaker 1: birth to four children. In nineteen eighty one, she made 89 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:55,479 Speaker 1: an appointment at the United States Consulate in Hong Kong 90 00:06:56,040 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: in hopes of applying for United States visa. In her interview, 91 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: she told the consulate official that she wanted to go 92 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,359 Speaker 1: to America to be a housekeeper, where she believed she 93 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 1: could make a better living for her children. Whether they 94 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: granted the visa is unknown, as is her method of transportation, 95 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: but nevertheless, later that year, Sister Ping arrived on US 96 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 1: soil alone, leaving her husband and children behind for the 97 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 1: time being. For as long as there have been borders, 98 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: there has been immigration. One might argue that before there 99 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: were borders, people were not sedentary, so even then we 100 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: moved around based on opportunity. But even if you don't 101 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 1: want to go that far into the rabbit hole, suffice 102 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 1: it to say that whenever one community faces barriers to 103 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: basic needs, things like oppressive political regimes, economic instability, harsh climate, 104 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: or illness, they move. Moving to create a better life 105 00:07:59,880 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 1: is a convincing ideal for many immigrants, when staying put 106 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 1: means living with little control over their future. The hard 107 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: part is finding a way out or in. When there's 108 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 1: a need, there will be an enterprising person to address it. 109 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:30,560 Speaker 1: In the late twentieth century, immigration from China to the 110 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 1: US was surging. Fujian province, where Sister Ping was from, 111 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,079 Speaker 1: became a major source of immigration, in particular due to 112 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:44,359 Speaker 1: the economic hardship, political repression, and stringent family planning policies 113 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: in China. In the nineteen eighties and nineties, America, despite 114 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:55,559 Speaker 1: its challenges, seemed to offer better opportunities. America's alleged meritocracy 115 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: is an enticing promise, and if the situation gets dire enough, 116 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:02,960 Speaker 1: people will find a way, and if there's an opportunity 117 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 1: to cash in on a dire situation, Americans specifically will 118 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:12,920 Speaker 1: find a way. Additionally, in nineteen eighty nine, President George H. W. 119 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:17,319 Speaker 1: Bush issued two executive orders making it easier for Chinese 120 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: nationals to gain refugee status in America. In effect, any 121 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:26,839 Speaker 1: Chinese adult could now be classified as a refugee. The 122 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 1: influx was swift and noticeable. By nineteen ninety five, the 123 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: CIA estimated that one hundred thousand Chinese nationals were being 124 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:41,800 Speaker 1: smuggled to the US every year. In the seventies and eighties, 125 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:46,760 Speaker 1: that average was only ten thousand per year. As more 126 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 1: and more legal immigrants began to make a life in America, 127 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 1: more and more who weren't eligible to immigrate wanted to 128 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: join them. But moving people illegally from one country to 129 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:01,240 Speaker 1: another is not easy. In fact, it can be harrowing. 130 00:10:02,679 --> 00:10:06,360 Speaker 1: There are a few important things illegal immigration requires on 131 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:11,360 Speaker 1: a grand scale like this. First is an extensive network 132 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 1: of contacts across the globe, as well as knowledge of 133 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 1: trade routes, maritime laws, and weak borders. It also requires 134 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:25,240 Speaker 1: a savviness around authority and the confidence to outwit immigration officers. 135 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 1: Making a business of illegal immigration demands an entrepreneurial instinct 136 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:36,480 Speaker 1: to capitalize on desperation, and the kind of callousness to 137 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:54,400 Speaker 1: ignore what that desperation will tolerate. The task for most 138 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:59,040 Speaker 1: immigrant families went like this. One adult family member would 139 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:02,880 Speaker 1: arrive in New York and start working as quickly as possible. 140 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:06,680 Speaker 1: They'd connect with any friends and family already in the city, 141 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:10,280 Speaker 1: find cheap housing, and save as much money as they 142 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:13,240 Speaker 1: could in hopes of sending it back to their loved ones. 143 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 1: One day, they'd have enough saved to pay passage for 144 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:21,640 Speaker 1: those family members to join them in America, a tale 145 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:26,520 Speaker 1: as old as America. The sending of the money wasn't 146 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:30,880 Speaker 1: so simple, though. Many illegal immigrants wanted to avoid paper trails, 147 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:33,160 Speaker 1: and the process of setting up a bank account and 148 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:37,280 Speaker 1: wiring money along the usual channels was difficult and costly. 149 00:11:38,679 --> 00:11:42,360 Speaker 1: This is where Sister Ping spotted an opportunity and how 150 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:45,520 Speaker 1: she initially became involved with illegal immigration in New York. 151 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:49,160 Speaker 1: Remember how I told you she was a savvy businesswoman, 152 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:00,960 Speaker 1: So back to Sister Ping's story. Once in New York 153 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:05,000 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty one, she opened another small variety store 154 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:07,559 Speaker 1: in New York's Chinatown, just as she had done in 155 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:11,280 Speaker 1: Hong Kong, and she grew her business, earned money, and 156 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:13,720 Speaker 1: eventually arranged for her family to join her in the 157 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 1: United States. At the time, the Fujianese immigrant community in 158 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 1: New York was small, and Sister Ping's shop became a 159 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:25,880 Speaker 1: gathering place for this group of New York newcomers. But 160 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:29,040 Speaker 1: even as she became better known around the neighborhood, Sister 161 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:33,320 Speaker 1: Ping kept a low profile. She spoke gruffly and wore modest, 162 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: simple clothing. Using her contacts in Fujian, she set up 163 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:42,680 Speaker 1: what's called a remittance business, which would help immigrants send 164 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:46,320 Speaker 1: their dollars to family and friends back home. In an 165 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 1: article about Sister Ping and The New Yorker, the operation 166 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 1: was described like this. A man working as a waiter 167 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:56,920 Speaker 1: in New York could bring Sister Paying one thousand dollars 168 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 1: on a weeknight, pay her a ten dollars commission, and 169 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:03,679 Speaker 1: be confident that by the next night someone would arrive 170 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:07,600 Speaker 1: by motorbike to his parents' town to deliver the cash equivalent. 171 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: This service Sister Ping provided was often cheaper and faster 172 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 1: than a transfer through the Bank of China, with so 173 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: many illegal immigrants arriving in the city each week. Sister 174 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:25,240 Speaker 1: Ping had a steady and growing client base, and at 175 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:30,960 Speaker 1: ten dollars a pop per interaction in eighties dollars, she 176 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:34,760 Speaker 1: was making a steady profit. I mean, it's what legit 177 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: banks do when you want to wire money out of 178 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:40,560 Speaker 1: the country. But this remittance business wasn't the long game 179 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:43,439 Speaker 1: for Sister Ping. It was just a way in. As 180 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 1: her network of associates and customers grew, she found herself 181 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 1: perfectly positioned to offer another, even more highly sought after service. 182 00:13:54,000 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 1: Instead of cash, Sister Ping wanted to deliver people. Sister 183 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:13,760 Speaker 1: Ping wasn't the only one with this idea. Of course, 184 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:18,880 Speaker 1: there was a name for those who provided this smuggling service, snakeheads. 185 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:24,000 Speaker 1: The name came from the shape formed when long lines 186 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,880 Speaker 1: of immigrants traveled on foot across borders and the men 187 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: and women at the head of those lines. Sister Ping 188 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:34,360 Speaker 1: started trafficking people the same way she did with her 189 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:39,480 Speaker 1: remittance business. Her network. Sister Ping gathered groups of trusted 190 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: associates in China, Hong Kong, New York, and other ports 191 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: around the world and stationed them as strategic handoff points 192 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: where travelers could be passed off to the next associate. 193 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: These routes were indirect and complex, which meant that they 194 00:14:56,200 --> 00:15:00,400 Speaker 1: could avoid suspicion and make the travelers more difficult to track. 195 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:04,560 Speaker 1: Judging by the speed at which Sister Ping was able 196 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 1: to amass these associates and start her operation, some have 197 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:12,840 Speaker 1: speculated that Sister Ping wasn't the first smuggler in her family. 198 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:19,320 Speaker 1: Investigators suspect her father was a prominent snakehead too. They 199 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 1: also believed that it was a snakehead who got her 200 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:26,920 Speaker 1: to America in the first place. Whatever the reason, Sister 201 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:30,440 Speaker 1: Ping hit the ground running. She was very hands on 202 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:35,320 Speaker 1: in the beginning, and she ran her operation meticulously. The 203 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 1: first people she brought on board were her family. The 204 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:43,080 Speaker 1: first successful runs took this route. Her sister would greet 205 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:47,400 Speaker 1: passengers in Hong Kong, provide them with false documents, and 206 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 1: take them shopping for clothes to ensure they looked like 207 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 1: nothing more than international tourists. Her brother managed a staging 208 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: post in Guatemala where the passengers would make a stopover 209 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:04,960 Speaker 1: to avoid so suspision and complicate tracking. From there, passengers 210 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:08,080 Speaker 1: would be taken to Mexico, where they might be hidden 211 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 1: in the false floor of a truck and driven across 212 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:16,080 Speaker 1: the border into California. Sister Ping herself would then meet 213 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 1: the new arrivals in California and escort them personally to 214 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:33,480 Speaker 1: New York via airplane. As you can imagine, the fee 215 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 1: for these services was steep. Sister Ping would charge anywhere 216 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:42,720 Speaker 1: from ten thousand to thirty thousand dollars per traveler. Snakehead 217 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 1: fees were so well known that the Fujianese immigrants in 218 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:49,560 Speaker 1: New York City became known as eighteen thousand dollars men, 219 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,760 Speaker 1: after the standard rate in the eighties. Want to hear 220 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:58,160 Speaker 1: something horrifying that eighteen k amounts to more than seventy 221 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: thousand dollars in today's defy. Even then, though, and even 222 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:06,960 Speaker 1: for well to do Chinese nationals, this fee was exorbitant, 223 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:11,479 Speaker 1: which is why most immigrant hopefuls didn't pay it right away. 224 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:14,320 Speaker 1: The typical routine was for them to pay a portion 225 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:18,119 Speaker 1: upfront and arrive in the US indebted to their smugglers. 226 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: Paying off this debt could take years, and where there's debt, 227 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:29,320 Speaker 1: there's extortion. Many immigrants found themselves indentured in garment factories 228 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: or restaurants, working off their fees under threat of violence. 229 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:37,760 Speaker 1: A flourishing criminal underworld sprang up in Chinatown as a result, 230 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:42,639 Speaker 1: and gangs found ways to capitalize, offering both protection or 231 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:47,479 Speaker 1: extortion services depending on the client. Violent crime in New 232 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:51,720 Speaker 1: York City skyrocketed all the while the demand for passage 233 00:17:51,920 --> 00:18:12,960 Speaker 1: kept going up. Sister Ping's operation grew quickly. By the 234 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:16,520 Speaker 1: late nineteen eighties, she had established smuggling roots across multiple 235 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:21,360 Speaker 1: continents and had affiliates in Thailand, Kenya, and Ecuador. As 236 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:25,360 Speaker 1: demand grew, Sister Ping became unable to supervise the process 237 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:28,480 Speaker 1: as carefully as she did in the beginning. Keeping things 238 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:31,159 Speaker 1: in the family worked well initially because trust with family 239 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:35,240 Speaker 1: members was already established, and as another security, her family 240 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:38,159 Speaker 1: members would have little leverage and nowhere to hide in 241 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:42,320 Speaker 1: the event that something went wrong. Sister Ping knew that 242 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 1: outsourcing was a tricky business, but eventually it became necessary. 243 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 1: In the nineties, she began hiring various freelancers and affiliates 244 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:55,879 Speaker 1: to support and further expand the operation. But with that 245 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 1: growth came cracks in that meticulously laid foundation. By the 246 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:12,959 Speaker 1: nineteen nineties, Sister Ping's operation was becoming an empire and 247 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:16,919 Speaker 1: Sister Ping herself was something of a mogul. With the 248 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:21,000 Speaker 1: incredible profit she was bringing in from her trafficking, Sister 249 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:24,719 Speaker 1: Ping made some strategic investments that further extended her wealth. 250 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:29,040 Speaker 1: Not only did she own the small Chinese goods shop 251 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 1: in Chinatown where she spent most of her days, but 252 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 1: she eventually purchased the five story building that housed it 253 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:39,800 Speaker 1: for a reported three million dollars. To those in the know, 254 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 1: she seemed untouchable. But in addition to being shrewd in business, 255 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:49,520 Speaker 1: Sister Ping was also wise. She knew that when you 256 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:53,600 Speaker 1: play with fire, you will get burned. In order to 257 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:56,640 Speaker 1: make her operation last in a neighborhood that was becoming 258 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:02,320 Speaker 1: increasingly violent and volatile, she needed protection. For that she 259 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:07,119 Speaker 1: knew there was only one place to look, Chinatown's biggest 260 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:12,200 Speaker 1: seat of power, the Gangs. The biggest and most powerful 261 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: gang in Chinatown at the time was known as the 262 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:20,000 Speaker 1: Fukching Gang. It was a ruthless group of young Fujianese 263 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:23,920 Speaker 1: men who wore black, streaked their hair with bright colors, 264 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:28,600 Speaker 1: and patrolled the neighborhood at night in black BMWs. The 265 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:33,359 Speaker 1: Fukching Gang provided muscle to snakeheads and other powerful personalities 266 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:38,080 Speaker 1: who had trouble collecting on debt's owed always traveling in 267 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:42,760 Speaker 1: groups of three or four. Their preferred weapons were knives, hammers, 268 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,440 Speaker 1: and ice picks. I don't know about y'all, but this 269 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:48,879 Speaker 1: is kind of how my inner monologue reacted to the 270 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:53,960 Speaker 1: information in that paragraph. Okay, hot, hot, hot, hammers and 271 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:57,680 Speaker 1: ice picks, and then you I mean, I want to 272 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:03,119 Speaker 1: redact all of my despicable reactions. But back on task. 273 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:07,320 Speaker 1: The gang's leader was a charismatic, muscular young man who 274 00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:11,080 Speaker 1: went by the name A Ke. Sister Ping and Ake 275 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,240 Speaker 1: certainly knew of each other in the nineteen eighties and 276 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:18,639 Speaker 1: nineties as two of the most powerful stakeholders in Chinatown. 277 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:20,919 Speaker 1: They might have just stayed out of each other's way 278 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:24,560 Speaker 1: at first, but in nineteen eighty five, when the Fuk 279 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:28,199 Speaker 1: Ching Gang was still getting it start, a Ke and 280 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:32,920 Speaker 1: several other gang members attempted to rob Sister Ping. They'd 281 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:35,760 Speaker 1: caught wind of where she kept her cash and figured 282 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 1: they'd try to get their hands on it. They even 283 00:21:39,119 --> 00:21:45,199 Speaker 1: held her daughter at gunpoint. This first burglary attempt was unsuccessful, 284 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:48,959 Speaker 1: but Ake and his gang came back, and they eventually 285 00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:52,399 Speaker 1: ended up with twenty thousand dollars of Sister Ping's money. 286 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:57,080 Speaker 1: So Sister Ping knew how powerful and dangerous the fuk 287 00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:01,399 Speaker 1: Ching Gang was. But she also knew that the only 288 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:04,200 Speaker 1: way to protect herself and her business was to align 289 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:08,600 Speaker 1: herself with those in power. So rather than seeking revenge, 290 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:13,000 Speaker 1: she decided to form an alliance. Y'all, I am not 291 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 1: fit to be a mafiosa because I don't think I 292 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:18,600 Speaker 1: could let that shit stand. But she was, and she did, 293 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:22,159 Speaker 1: And here we go with the actual narrative. In nineteen 294 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: ninety one, years after the robbery, Sister Ping sent one 295 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:29,120 Speaker 1: of her business partners to visit Ake at his apartment. 296 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:33,480 Speaker 1: By this time, the Fukching Gang had gotten heavily involved 297 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:37,280 Speaker 1: in the smuggling world themselves, and Ake had become a 298 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 1: successful snakehead in his own right. He had developed lucrative 299 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:44,320 Speaker 1: connections at ports along America's coasts, as well as a 300 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:47,840 Speaker 1: unique method for getting passengers off of their smuggling vessels 301 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:52,400 Speaker 1: and onto shore. His method was known as offloading. As 302 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:55,720 Speaker 1: the ships full of immigrants approached America's shores but were 303 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 1: still safely in international waters, Ake sent fishing boats man 304 00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:04,520 Speaker 1: by Fuqing Gang members to meet them, The passengers then 305 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:08,119 Speaker 1: transferred from big boat to small boat and went to shore, 306 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:12,119 Speaker 1: which eliminated the need for plane tickets or forged documents. 307 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:16,439 Speaker 1: This was a method of transportation Sister Ping had not 308 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:20,280 Speaker 1: yet attempted, and she saw an opportunity. When she and 309 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:24,399 Speaker 1: Ak finally spoke, he immediately apologized for the burglary in 310 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty five, to which Sister Ping replied that all 311 00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:31,000 Speaker 1: that was in the past. They were talking business now 312 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:35,760 Speaker 1: real quick. Based on my theatrical knowledge of gangsters or 313 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:39,680 Speaker 1: business people, to be honest, I would have never anticipated 314 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:55,679 Speaker 1: that conversation an apology in acceptance, how very evolved. The 315 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,399 Speaker 1: two made an arrangement in which Sister Ping would secure 316 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 1: the passengers and load them onto ships, and Ake would 317 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:06,240 Speaker 1: offload the passengers onto smaller boats just outside American waters. 318 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:11,600 Speaker 1: Then Ake's men would pick them up in U haul 319 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:14,800 Speaker 1: trucks and drive them to wearhouses in Brooklyn, where they 320 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:18,080 Speaker 1: would begin their new lives in New York. In their 321 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:22,399 Speaker 1: initial agreement, Sister Ping paid Ake seven hundred and fifty 322 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:26,000 Speaker 1: thousand dollars for his services on their first trial run. 323 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:32,199 Speaker 1: It was the beginning of a mutually beneficial partnership. The 324 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:36,480 Speaker 1: two continued their arrangement for the next twelve months without incident. 325 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:40,479 Speaker 1: For a while, it seemed as though things could go 326 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:44,600 Speaker 1: on like that forever. But that was before the Golden 327 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 1: Venture disaster. Now let's return to the shipwreck that started 328 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:59,879 Speaker 1: this episode. That accident on Rockaway Peninsula. That was the 329 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:04,119 Speaker 1: Golden Venture disaster, named after the vessel which ran aground 330 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:08,399 Speaker 1: that day. Most of the passengers aboard the Golden Venture 331 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:11,760 Speaker 1: began their month's long journey to New York in China 332 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:16,200 Speaker 1: years before they ended up on that Rockaway shore. Sometime 333 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:19,760 Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety one, they set off on foot to 334 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:23,879 Speaker 1: the China Meanmar border, where they passed into Myanmar and 335 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:28,680 Speaker 1: prepared for a month long trek through mountains into Thailand. 336 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:32,920 Speaker 1: Once in Bangkok, they were kept in a crowded safe 337 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,560 Speaker 1: house for two months while they waited for Sister Ping 338 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:40,440 Speaker 1: and the other snakeheads involved in the arrangement to secure 339 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:44,360 Speaker 1: a ship big enough for the group. The count had 340 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:51,240 Speaker 1: reached three hundred passengers. Two years later, in February nineteen 341 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:55,920 Speaker 1: ninety three, the ship finally departed Bangkok and on its 342 00:25:55,920 --> 00:26:01,159 Speaker 1: way it stopped by Mombasa, Kenya. Some of the passengers 343 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:05,399 Speaker 1: having worked as sailors and fishermen knew immediately that the 344 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:09,159 Speaker 1: vessel was too small to cross the Atlantic, not to 345 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 1: mention carry that amount of cargo, especially human cargo. The 346 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:19,040 Speaker 1: ships holed was a cramped, windowless space about the size 347 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:23,240 Speaker 1: of a two car garage, but the travelers had little choice. 348 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,800 Speaker 1: Armed gang members were there to usher them on board, 349 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:31,560 Speaker 1: and so the voyage began one hundred and twenty days 350 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:35,720 Speaker 1: from Bangkok to Mombasa, Kenya, then around the Cape of 351 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:39,119 Speaker 1: Good Hope, one of the most dangerous sailing routes on 352 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:43,560 Speaker 1: the planet. The three hundred passengers survived in a diet 353 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:48,240 Speaker 1: of rice, peanuts, dirty water, and spoiled food. There was 354 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:53,439 Speaker 1: one bathroom aboard. In strict rules, passengers could emerge to 355 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:57,000 Speaker 1: the deck only when they were safely in international waters. 356 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,159 Speaker 1: Otherwise they were to remain in the cramped, sweltering hold 357 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:05,720 Speaker 1: to avoid any chance of being seen. There were reports 358 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:08,600 Speaker 1: of beatings by the Gangan forces on board, in several 359 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:12,840 Speaker 1: incidents of rape. I don't know if the passengers had 360 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:18,680 Speaker 1: bargained for all this hardship, but imagine knowing it might 361 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 1: be like this, and still thinking, yes, I'll take that 362 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 1: over this. The passengers came mostly from the same villages 363 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:33,200 Speaker 1: and Fujian province that had brought Sister Ping to America. 364 00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:37,440 Speaker 1: Some of them could have been classified as refugees, but 365 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 1: most were driven by the promise that in one year 366 00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:43,360 Speaker 1: in America they could make what it would take them 367 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:55,639 Speaker 1: a decade to earn back home. Against the odds, the 368 00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:59,960 Speaker 1: Golden Venture survived the treacherous four month journey to arrive 369 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:02,520 Speaker 1: on the East coast of the United States in June 370 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:07,520 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety three. The plan was for Ake to offload 371 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:10,800 Speaker 1: the ship in the Atlantic and bring the passengers ashore 372 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,880 Speaker 1: on smaller boats, as he had done for Sister Ping 373 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:18,040 Speaker 1: so many times before. But in the months preceding the 374 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:22,320 Speaker 1: Golden Venture's arrival, trouble had been brewing inside his gang. 375 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 1: Disgruntled gang members were jealous of Ake's earnings and formed 376 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:33,440 Speaker 1: their own rival gang. Violence broke out and police took notice, 377 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:38,040 Speaker 1: causing Ake to flee to China to avoid arrest. So 378 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,040 Speaker 1: by the time the Golden Venture arrived, there was no 379 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:45,440 Speaker 1: one there to transport the passengers. And let's remember again 380 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 1: how desperate these men, women and children must have been. 381 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:53,720 Speaker 1: For four months they'd been at sea, starving, confined, to 382 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:59,360 Speaker 1: a sweltering twenty by forty foot metal cargo hold America 383 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:05,560 Speaker 1: for freedom. Their futures were so close they could touch them. 384 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:08,160 Speaker 1: No one was coming to bring them to shore safely. 385 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:12,960 Speaker 1: If they were discovered, so be it. The crew decided 386 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:16,200 Speaker 1: to run the ship aground in the rockaways, which brings 387 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:19,640 Speaker 1: us back to the scene that started our story. Panic 388 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:24,320 Speaker 1: stricken passengers jumping twenty feet overboard into the frigid water. 389 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:28,440 Speaker 1: Ten passengers died in their attempt to reach the shore. 390 00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:33,080 Speaker 1: Two hundred and seventy six were taken into custody to 391 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 1: await their fate in America. The publicity of the incident 392 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 1: was bad news for Sister Pin, whether she realized it 393 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:52,400 Speaker 1: or not. Her business relied on secret keeping and divasion, 394 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:56,240 Speaker 1: two things she was very good at. Similar tragedies had 395 00:29:56,240 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 1: happened before. It's possible that even as Sister Pe watched 396 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:04,200 Speaker 1: the crash footage on the morning news, it felt like 397 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:08,280 Speaker 1: business as usual. But what she didn't know was that 398 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,880 Speaker 1: the FBI had been on to Sister Ping for years. 399 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:15,280 Speaker 1: They were working on a case against her, but lacked 400 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:21,080 Speaker 1: enough direct evidence to officially make an arrest. This might 401 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:25,080 Speaker 1: have just been the missing piece After the Golden Venture, 402 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:30,240 Speaker 1: disaster investigators began methodically closing in a short time later, 403 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:34,280 Speaker 1: a team of FBI agents raided the large Chinatown building 404 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:38,320 Speaker 1: Sister Ping owned. They didn't find Sister Ping herself, but 405 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:42,840 Speaker 1: what they did find was possibly even more valuable. It 406 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:48,360 Speaker 1: was a trove of incriminating evidence, e laminating machine, fake passports, 407 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:54,320 Speaker 1: forged drivers' licenses, bogus security cards, and stacks of employment 408 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:59,160 Speaker 1: authorization forms. It was, as prosecutors would later call it, 409 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:04,040 Speaker 1: the tool us of an alien smuggling trade. But unfortunately 410 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:07,640 Speaker 1: for them, Sister Ping had already left the country. On 411 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:11,240 Speaker 1: September twentieth, nineteen ninety four, she entered Hong Kong using 412 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:14,280 Speaker 1: her own passport, and from that moment on it was 413 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:28,800 Speaker 1: as if she had disappeared, at least on paper. For 414 00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:32,680 Speaker 1: the next four years, Sister Ping continued her lucrative smuggling 415 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:35,600 Speaker 1: operations from the comfort of her family's home in China. 416 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:40,080 Speaker 1: Direct shipments to US shores had become too risky after 417 00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:44,640 Speaker 1: the Golden Venture, but Sister Ping simply adapted. She began 418 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:49,360 Speaker 1: re routing human cargo through Central and South America. By now, 419 00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:52,360 Speaker 1: US authorities knew where she was, and they knew she 420 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:56,440 Speaker 1: was still in operation, but they couldn't touch her. China 421 00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:01,080 Speaker 1: had no extradition treaty with the United States. She remained 422 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:07,000 Speaker 1: frustratingly beyond their legal reach, but the FBI wasn't giving up. 423 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:10,400 Speaker 1: Agents assumed that if Sister Ping was still in business, 424 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:14,960 Speaker 1: she was still traveling and likely under false identities. If 425 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:18,120 Speaker 1: they could figure out what these identities were, maybe they'd 426 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:22,200 Speaker 1: have a shot at intercepting her. They began working with 427 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:27,800 Speaker 1: informants in Fujian, painstakingly assembling a family tree in hopes 428 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:31,560 Speaker 1: of catching her traveling under one of her family member's names. 429 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:35,520 Speaker 1: It was a long shot, but in April of two thousand, 430 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,640 Speaker 1: u S authorities in Hong Kong received a tip that 431 00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:43,560 Speaker 1: Sister Ping's son had a ticket on an upcoming Korean 432 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:49,440 Speaker 1: Air flight. Hong Kong police mobilized, sending dozens of officers 433 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:52,440 Speaker 1: to the airport and undercovered detectives to stake out the 434 00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:58,440 Speaker 1: Korean Air desk, and their patients paid off. When the 435 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 1: day of the flight arrived there, she was a stout 436 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:05,560 Speaker 1: woman who resembled Sister Ping standing near the check encounter. 437 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:09,960 Speaker 1: Officers closed in and when they searched her purse, they 438 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:14,200 Speaker 1: found three Belizian passports that didn't belong to her, a 439 00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:18,720 Speaker 1: fistful of loose passport photos, and thirty one thousand dollars 440 00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:24,400 Speaker 1: in neat stacks of US currency. Finally, after all these 441 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:44,520 Speaker 1: years evading notice, Sister Ping was in custody. Once extradited 442 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:49,360 Speaker 1: back to the US, Sister Ping remained calm, polite, even optimistic. 443 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:52,880 Speaker 1: According to an article from The New Yorker, she was 444 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:56,120 Speaker 1: adamant that she didn't do anything wrong and that as 445 00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:58,120 Speaker 1: soon as she spoke to the judge in New York, 446 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:03,600 Speaker 1: she would be released. I guess after decades outsmarting legal system, 447 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:07,520 Speaker 1: you'd start to feel pretty untouchable. Her trial began in 448 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:09,960 Speaker 1: May of two thousand and five and lasted a month. 449 00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:14,680 Speaker 1: The prosecution described her as quote one of the most 450 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:20,160 Speaker 1: powerful and most successful alien smugglers of our time, but 451 00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:24,960 Speaker 1: her defense attorney insisted she was nothing but a misunderstood 452 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:30,160 Speaker 1: business woman whose only offense was running an underground banking operation. 453 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:35,160 Speaker 1: He called her the tragic scapegoat of a paranoid system, 454 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:39,560 Speaker 1: but the jury didn't buy it. On June twenty second, 455 00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:42,719 Speaker 1: two thousand and five, Sister Ping was found guilty of 456 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:48,560 Speaker 1: conspiracy to smuggle aliens, money laundering, and trafficking ransom. At 457 00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:52,440 Speaker 1: her sentencing hearing, she gave an impassioned hour long speech 458 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:56,480 Speaker 1: explaining how in every major story discussed at trial, she 459 00:34:56,680 --> 00:34:59,560 Speaker 1: was the victim, and how the evidence in the trial 460 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:04,200 Speaker 1: had been faked. She said, everybody can tell you that 461 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:08,279 Speaker 1: Sister Ping is working in the store every day. When 462 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:12,120 Speaker 1: she finally finished, the judge made a brief and exasperated 463 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:16,800 Speaker 1: comment about how her version of events quote defies belief, 464 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:20,520 Speaker 1: and handed down the maximum sentence of thirty five years 465 00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:24,400 Speaker 1: in prison. As Sister Ping was let out of the courtroom, 466 00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:37,759 Speaker 1: she smiled and waved at her family and supporters. And 467 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:42,840 Speaker 1: Sister Ping had many, many supporters, which brings me to 468 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:47,240 Speaker 1: one of the most fascinating elements of this story, Sister 469 00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:52,640 Speaker 1: Ping's identity in the history books. Over two decades, Sister 470 00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:57,960 Speaker 1: Ping made an estimated forty million dollars bringing desperate Chinese men, women, 471 00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:02,920 Speaker 1: and children into America. Legally, she was the orchestrator of 472 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:08,000 Speaker 1: a massive underground network that stretched across Asia, Africa, and 473 00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:13,040 Speaker 1: the Americas. Dozens and dozens of people died on her watch. 474 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:17,280 Speaker 1: Many people wouldn't hesitate to call her a ruthless kingpin 475 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:21,040 Speaker 1: with little regard for human life who turned human desperation 476 00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:25,439 Speaker 1: into profit. But plenty of others would call her a hero. 477 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:30,359 Speaker 1: The Fujinese community in Chinatown was heartbroken at the news 478 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:34,240 Speaker 1: of her arrest. To many, it felt like Robin Hood 479 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:38,000 Speaker 1: was being put on trial. The World Journal reported that 480 00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:42,480 Speaker 1: villagers and Sister Ping's hometown volunteered to do prison time 481 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:47,000 Speaker 1: on her behalf. They described her as a living Buddha. 482 00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:51,440 Speaker 1: For them, there was no moral ambiguity in what she 483 00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:55,800 Speaker 1: was doing. The fees she demanded, the tactic she used, 484 00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:58,840 Speaker 1: the danger she put them in on their journeys across 485 00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:02,360 Speaker 1: the globe, all were worth it for the promise of 486 00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:07,040 Speaker 1: a future in America. Depending on who you ask, she's 487 00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:11,560 Speaker 1: either the villain or the hero of the story. Speaking 488 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:14,360 Speaker 1: of those supporters, there's one more question. You might be wondering. 489 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:18,960 Speaker 1: What became of the two hundred and seventy six men, women, 490 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:30,320 Speaker 1: and children who survived the Golden Venture incident. After making 491 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:33,200 Speaker 1: it to shore that night, all of the passengers were 492 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:37,359 Speaker 1: eventually taken into custody. The goal for all of them 493 00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:41,080 Speaker 1: was to be granted asylum in the United States, but 494 00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:44,680 Speaker 1: because the incident had thrown the US immigration system into 495 00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:50,400 Speaker 1: such an unfavorable light, the government was highly selective. Only 496 00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:54,799 Speaker 1: ten percent of them were granted asylum. About half of 497 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:59,400 Speaker 1: the remaining passengers were deported, and the rest found themselves 498 00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:04,080 Speaker 1: trapped in immigration limbo, fighting their cases for years from 499 00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:09,440 Speaker 1: county jails and detention facilities around the country. In nineteen 500 00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:14,520 Speaker 1: ninety seven, after spending nearly four years behind bars, the 501 00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:19,400 Speaker 1: remaining fifty three passengers received a presidential pardon from Bill Clinton, 502 00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:23,879 Speaker 1: but it was conditional. They weren't totally free to go. 503 00:38:24,719 --> 00:38:30,520 Speaker 1: They were placed on humanitarian parole. This meant that they 504 00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:33,520 Speaker 1: were allowed to stay in America, work and build a life, 505 00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:37,439 Speaker 1: but they were not given legal permanent residents or even 506 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,400 Speaker 1: the chance to work toward it. And worst of all, 507 00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:45,840 Speaker 1: they were subject to deportation any day. The passengers eventually 508 00:38:45,880 --> 00:38:49,000 Speaker 1: found homes across the country, started working, got married, and 509 00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:53,320 Speaker 1: grew families, but constantly hanging over them was the knowledge 510 00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:56,440 Speaker 1: that they could be sent away at any time. The 511 00:38:56,560 --> 00:39:01,160 Speaker 1: lives they were building could vanish at any moment. According 512 00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:03,680 Speaker 1: to reporting in The New Yorker and The World Journal, 513 00:39:04,600 --> 00:39:07,640 Speaker 1: several of the Golden Venture passengers who had been deported 514 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:13,200 Speaker 1: have since returned to America illegally. Disasters like the Golden 515 00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:19,680 Speaker 1: Venture are not a deterrent. Considering the stakes, Incidents like 516 00:39:19,719 --> 00:39:24,800 Speaker 1: this are an acceptable risk, and where there are desperate migrants, 517 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:29,840 Speaker 1: there will be snakeheads to guide their passage. It's believed 518 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:33,759 Speaker 1: that Sister Ping's family carried on the business after her imprisonment, 519 00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:40,600 Speaker 1: but certainly without her panache. In twenty fourteen, after serving 520 00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:44,440 Speaker 1: just fourteen years of her thirty five year sentence, Sister 521 00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:50,040 Speaker 1: Ping died of pancreatic cancer. Thousands of mourners attended her 522 00:39:50,080 --> 00:40:14,720 Speaker 1: funeral on Canal Street in Manhattan. I'd like to shout 523 00:40:14,719 --> 00:40:17,600 Speaker 1: out the excellent sources I've relied on for this episode. 524 00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:21,280 Speaker 1: Two articles for The New Yorker by Patrick Radden Keef, 525 00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:26,520 Speaker 1: titled The Snakehead and a Path out of Purgatory. The 526 00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:29,319 Speaker 1: first gives a fantastic look at Sister Ping's rise to 527 00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:32,920 Speaker 1: power and the economic forces that fueled illegal immigration in 528 00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:37,279 Speaker 1: the eighties and nineties. The second piece explores the aftermath 529 00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:41,040 Speaker 1: of the Golden Venture tragedy and the reverberations it's still 530 00:40:41,080 --> 00:40:45,400 Speaker 1: causing an American immigration policy today. If you're interested in 531 00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:49,320 Speaker 1: learning more, I recommend checking out Patrick Radden Keef's book, 532 00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:53,479 Speaker 1: also called The Snakehead. For an even deeper dive into 533 00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:57,799 Speaker 1: Sister Ping's life and crimes. For more information about this 534 00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:00,720 Speaker 1: case and others we cover on the show, visit diversion 535 00:41:00,800 --> 00:41:09,960 Speaker 1: audio dot com. The Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told 536 00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:13,440 Speaker 1: is a production of Diversion Audio. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, 537 00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:17,000 Speaker 1: and I hosted this episode. This episode was written by 538 00:41:17,000 --> 00:41:20,719 Speaker 1: Grace Human. Our show is produced by Leo Culp and 539 00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:26,160 Speaker 1: edited by Antonio Enriquez. Theme music by Tyler Cash. Executive 540 00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:29,879 Speaker 1: produced by Scott Waxman, and one more thing before I Go. 541 00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:33,400 Speaker 1: If you haven't already, I'll love you forever if you 542 00:41:33,520 --> 00:41:36,839 Speaker 1: get my true crime book, Madam Queen, The Life and 543 00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:42,520 Speaker 1: Crimes of Harlem's underground racketeer Stephanie Sinclair. Actually, if you 544 00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:45,400 Speaker 1: like the story of Sister Payne, you might like Stephanie 545 00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:49,080 Speaker 1: Sinclair's even more. There's a link to do it your 546 00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:51,160 Speaker 1: favorite retailer in our show's notes