Five suspected members of an international drug trafficking ring were charged in a 27-count indictment on Wednesday, Feb. 7, for their alleged role in conspiring to distribute methamphetamine from Los Angeles County to New Zealand and Australia.
Yangqiang Chen, 45, of Monterey Park, along with Jie Chen, 40, MeiMei Chen, 41, Guorong He, 50, and Yien He, 32 — all residents in Rosemead — were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of charges including conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine after search warrants were executed at three locations in Rosemead and Monterey Park, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Two of the defendants were also charged with maintaining a drug premises where the methamphetamine was stored and packaged.
Xingyun Chen, 54, a suspected co-conspirator, is currently in Louisiana in immigration custody. Another suspected co-conspirator, Zuxing Lin, 44, of Rosemead is currently a fugitive.
Beginning at an unknown date, Yangqiang Chen and Jie Chen are accused of ordering items from online retailers that included spools of 3D printing filament, utility cases, wine opener sets and drive shafts that were used to conceal methamphetamine in international shipments to foreign drug customers, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The defendants are suspected of packaging the methamphetamine at a residence in Monterey Park.
The packages containing methamphetamine were then delivered to UPS stores and international shipping companies to be shipped to foreign customers.
In one instance last February, Yangqiang Chen is accused of instructing a confidential informant believed by the defendant to be a co-conspirator to contact UPS to identify the current location of a package and to change the recipient address to an international shipping business located in Torrance, according to the indictment.
A total of 91 packages containing almost 200 kilograms of methamphetamine destined for…
Read the full article here
