6 charged with smuggling goose and duck intestines from China
Some were in crates marked “pet nail clippers.” Others were hidden under wrapped rattlesnakes, according to a complaint filed in Federal District Court in Brooklyn.
Hidden inside the crates were exotic treats that were illegal contraband, the complaint said: raw goose and duck intestines shipped from China and destined for stores and restaurants in New York City.
Federal agents arrested six people on Tuesday and charged them with smuggling the organs through Los Angeles between August 2022 and May 2023, although the complaint also did not mention illegal shipments until January.
The defendants also trafficked in “duck blood products from unapproved companies in China,” according to the complaint.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service monitors the meat and poultry trade to ensure imports are safe. According to the complaint, the only imports allowed from China are catfish and “heat-treated/cooked” poultry products.
But goods seized during the investigation included goose and duck intestines, according to the complaint. In one case, an investigator observed boxes containing approximately 3,000 pounds of intestines, the report said. In another, a company received about 666 pounds of spicy duck intestines from a supplier operating using the digital platform WeChat, the company said.
The offal is a sought-after delicacy for hot pot meals. a editorial in Shanghai Daily noted that while fattier pork intestines can be stewed or fried, “the ‘lighter’ and crispier duck or goose intestines are the star in the spicy Sichuan hotpot.”
Prosecutors say Ming Huang Chen, 40, also known as Joe Chen, ran an operation that imported, transported and sold the illegal goods from China along with his domestic partner, Runhua Hou, 32, also known as Racheal Hou.
According to the complaint, the unnamed “masters” of the conspiracy were located in California and China. Those people sought out “shippers” to get the goods to New York, including Mr. Chen, while Mr. Chen and others sold to wholesalers and directly to consumers, prosecutors allege.
Two wholesalers, Hangming Fang, 38, who ran a Brooklyn business called Chu Feng Food Wholesale, and Shanqing Ou, 38, were also charged. The remaining two defendants, Hangting Lin, 32, and Minghao Lin, 38, were charged with transporting the illegal goods.
All six were released on bond after appearing before Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak in Brooklyn federal court Tuesday afternoon.
Prosecutors said Mr. Chen and Ms. Hou’s bail was set at $100,000 each — double that of the other defendants — because $37,000 in cash was found during a search of their Sunset Park home when they were arrested.
Authorities also found a van parked in front of the house containing 385 pounds of pork, poultry and beef, prosecutor Kamil Ammari said in court. He also noted that Mr. Chen did not have a driver’s license and that Ms. Hou’s driver’s license was suspended. The couple declined to comment as they left the court.
In one case detailed in the complaint, a shipping container arrived at the port of Long Beach, California, with customs forms stating it contained “1,966 boxes of pet care nail clippers” manufactured in Japan. But it actually contained illegal poultry from China, prosecutors said. The goods were flown from Los Angeles to Kennedy Airport and then delivered to a freezer that Mr. Ou rented in Brooklyn.
According to the complaint, the sender was listed as 668 Seafood Market on Eighth Avenue in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. The recipient was listed at an address in Queens for Mr. Lin, who was also associated with a company called JNJ Food Trading in Sunset Park.
Mr. Ou admitted to an investigator that he was a “WeChat distributor” of food products and coordinated logistics for the transportation and storage of goods, the complaint said. Another WeChat vendor in California is mentioned but not named in the filing.