Patrick Radden Keefe - The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream

In at least some parts of nineteenth-century Norway, people called those who intended to emigrate Americans even before they left . ROGER DANIELS,
Coming to America:
A History of Immigration and
Ethnicity in American Life

Dramatis Personae GIVEN THE historical and geographical sweep of this story, there are, of necessity, many characters. Because The Snakehead is an account of people transplanted from one country to another, many of the individuals described go by more than one name. In order to minimize confusion for readers who may be unaccustomed to Chinese names, I have defaulted in many instances to the English names adopted by some of the Chinese characters. Thus Chung Sing Chau, who upon arriving in America took the name Sean Chen, will be Sean Chen for the purposes of this story. Because some of the characters in the book are involved in organized crime, and because Chinese mobsters share with their cousins in the Italian Mafia a wonderful facility for nicknames, I have opted to refer to some characters primarily by their nicknameslike Mr. Charlie, or the Fat Mansimply on the grounds that the nicknames will be easier for the reader to keep straight. Chinese names are customarily rendered with the family name preceding the individual name, so Sister Pings full name is Cheng Chui Ping, Cheng being her surname. I have followed the Chinese form, with a few exceptions, such as Kin Sin Lee and Pin Lin, where through some consensus prosecutors, immigration attorneys, Golden Venture passengers, and the friends and associates of the individual in question have all elected to reverse the order, putting the first name first and the surname last, and for me to do otherwise would be formalistic. In what follows, the boldface name is the one used in the body of the book, nicknames are placed in quotation marks, and inside the parentheses are aliases, birth names (if the person has adopted an English name or a nickname), and traditional Chinese renderings (in the few cases where I otherwise depart from them). Ah Kay (Guo Liang Qi), leader of the Fuk Ching gang Ah Wong (Guo Liang Wong), younger brother of Ah Kay who assumed control of smuggling operations Gloria Canales , major people smuggler, based in Costa Rica Ann Carr , British immigration attorney who represented Sean Chen in York, Pennsylvania Ying Chan , Daily News reporter who covered the snakehead trade Mr. Charlie (Char Lee, Ma Lee, Lee Peng Fei), Bangkok-based boat smuggler Sean Chen (Chung Sing Chau), Fujianese teenager aboard the Golden Venture Cheng Chai Leung , father of Sister Ping, early Fujianese snakehead Cheng Chui Ping (Sister Ping), New Yorkbased snakehead and underground banker Cheng Mei Yeung , brother of Sister Ping, smuggler based in Guatemala, California, and Bangkok Monica Cheng (Cheng Hui Mui), daughter and oldest child of Sister Ping and Cheung Yick Tak Susan Cheng (Cheng Tsui Wah), Sister Pings sister, procured travel documents for smuggled migrants Cheung Yick Tak (Billy), husband of Sister Ping Beverly Church , nurse and paralegal in York, Pennsylvania, became involved with the Golden Venture detainees Patrick Devine , Buffalo-based INS investigator James Dullan , driver on the Niagara smuggling route The Fat Man (Four Star, Dickson Yao), Hong Kongbased drug smuggler and informant for the DEA and the INS Kenny Feng , Taiwanese snakehead and associate of Sister Ping, based in Guatemala Foochow Paul (Kin Fei Wong), original head of the Fuk Ching gang Ed Garde , investigator with the Niagara County Sheriffs Department Richard Kephart , driver on the Niagara smuggling route Ray Kerr , head of the FBIs C-6 squad, handled Dan Xin Lin Kin Sin Lee (Lee Kin Sin), Mr. Charlies deputy, chief snakehead enforcer aboard the Golden Venture Dougie Lee , detective with the NYPDs Jade Squad Peter Lee , FBI special agent, handled Sister Ping Dan Xin Lin (Lin Dan Xin), Fuk Ching gang member, defected to start his own smuggling operation Li Xing Hua (Stupid), Fuk Ching gang member, bodyguard to Ah Kay Sam Lwin , Burmese first officer of the Golden Venture, subsequently took control of the ship Joan Maruskin , Methodist minister in York, Pennsylvania, became involved with the Golden Venture detainees Billy McMurry , FBI special agent, responsible for the Sister Ping investigation after 1997 Doris Meissner , commissioner of the INS, appointed by President Clinton after the Golden Venture incident Don Monica , Nairobi-based INS officer Konrad Motyka , FBI special agent who worked on both the Fuk Ching and the Sister Ping case Joe Occhipinti , head of the INSs Anti-Smuggling Unit and lead investigator on Operation Hester Benny Ong (Uncle Seven, Ong Kai Sui), adviser for life to the Hip Sing tong in Chinatown Paul (Min Hoang), Vietnamese smuggler based in Canada, piloted boats across the Niagara River Peter (Cheng Wai Wei), brother-in-law of Sister Ping, husband of Susan, ran the Niagara smuggling route Pin Lin (Lin Pin), Golden Venture passenger represented by Craig Trebilcock Pao Pong , Pattaya Tourist Police officer, interrupted loading of the Golden Venture in Thailand Grover Joseph Rees III , general counsel of the INS Luke Rettler , prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorneys office, specialized in Asian gangs Mark Riordan , Bangkok-based INS officer Eric Schwartz , National Security Council staffer, coordinated the Washington response to the Golden Venture incident Gerald Shargel , prominent criminal defense attorney, represented Ah Kay Sterling Showers , retired factory worker in York, Pennsylvania, befriended Golden Venture detainees Bill Slattery , district director of the INS in New York City Song You Lin , Fuk Ching gang assassin Jerry Stuchiner , INS officer in charge in Hong Kong and then in Honduras Alan Tam (Ha Gwei), half African American Fuk Ching gang member, driver and fixer for the gang Amir Tobing , Indonesian captain of the Golden Venture Craig Trebilcock , York, Pennsylvania, litigator, led pro bono legal effort on behalf of Golden Venture detainees Wang Kong Fu , close smuggling associate of Sister Pings, introduced Sister Ping to Ah Kay Herbie Weizenblut , associate of Jerry Stuchiners, installed as Honduran consul in Hong Kong Weng Yu Hui , Fujianese man smuggled by Sister Ping, later became a key Golden Venture snakehead Yang You Yi , Fujianese Golden Venture passenger and lead folding-paper artist in the prison in York, Pennsylvania

Chinatown