LOS ANGELES, California — Two men have been arrested on charges of participating in a conspiracy to smuggle contraband from China into the United States through the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the Justice Department announced. Zhongliang Wang, a 39-year-old from Hacienda Heights, and Chenyu Zhao, a 31-year-old also from Hacienda Heights, face charges of conspiracy and illegally removing goods from customs custody.
Wang was arrested on Wednesday, while Zhao was apprehended last Thursday as he attempted to board a plane to China with a one-way ticket. The pair allegedly orchestrated the diversion of cargo shipping containers flagged for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) secondary inspection to unauthorized locations, where they unloaded contraband and replaced it with filler cargo before returning the containers for inspection, according to the Justice Department.
Law enforcement has seized over $1.3 billion worth of contraband linked to this and similar schemes. A search of a warehouse used by the group resulted in the seizure of counterfeit goods, including luxury handbags and footwear, and approximately 19.5 kilograms of enobosarm, an illicit steroid, according to court documents…