Keefe - The snakehead: an epic tale of the Chinatown underworld and the American dream

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