HSI Los Angeles special agents arrest 8 in customs fraud scheme involving goods from China

LOS ANGELES — HSI Los Angeles has arrested eight individuals for their part in an internal conspiracy among logistic companies’ executives, warehouse owners and truck drivers to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of counterfeit and other illegal goods from China into the United States via the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The 15-count indictment, returned last month and unsealed on Jan. 24, charges nine defendants with conspiracy, smuggling and breaking customs seals. The defendants allegedly took containers flagged for off-site secondary inspection, unloaded the contraband, then stuffed the targeted containers with filler cargo to deceive customs officials and evade law enforcement.

According to the indictment, a search of one warehouse used by the group led to the seizure in June 2024 of $20 million worth of counterfeit items including shoes, perfume, luxury handbags, apparel and watches.

Seven defendants were arrested on Jan. 24, an eighth was taken into custody on Jan. 25, and one defendant is a fugitive. A trial date was scheduled for March 18. The eighth defendant, who was arrested on unrelated state charges, is expected to be arraigned in federal court in the coming days.

“Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles and its partners are committed to enforcing customs laws and practices, facilitating legitimate trade, and protecting the integrity of the nation’s supply chain,” said HSI Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang. “The $1.3 billion dollars’ worth of contraband seized during the investigation into this type of scheme illuminates how complex smuggling schemes try to exploit our legitimate trade practices and the American consumer.”

The 15-count indictment details a conspiracy to coordinate the shipment of large quantities of contraband from China to the United States through the Port of Los Angeles from at least August 2023 to June 2024. The individuals arrested are:

• Hexi Wang, 32, of El Monte, who manages K&P International Logistics LLC, a City of Industry-based company that hires commercial truckers to transport shipping containers from the Port of Los Angeles;
• Jin “Mark” Liu, 42, of Irvine, the owner of K&P International Logistics LLC and who managed the finances of one of the warehouses where contraband was unloaded and issued payments to truck drivers who transported smuggled goods;
• Dong “Liam” Lin, 31, of Hacienda Heights, who — along with Zheng — controlled and operated one of the contraband warehouses;
• Marck Anthony Gomez, 49, of West Covina, the owner and operator of Fannum Trucks LLC, a West Covina-based company that coordinated the movement of shipping containers from the Port of Los Angeles, including large shipments of contraband smuggled into the United States from China;
• Andy Estuardo Castillo Perez, 32, of Apple Valley, a driver for M4 Transportation Inc., a Carson-based company that transports shipping containers from the Port of Los Angeles;
• Jesse James Rosales, 41, of Apple Valley, who coordinated truckers from the ports to warehouses;
• Daniel Acosta Hoffman, 41, of Hacienda Heights, worked with Rosales to bring cargo containers from the Port of Los Angeles to warehouses; and
• Galvin Biao Liufu, 33, of Ontario, directed and managed truck drivers to bring the contraband into the warehouses.

According to the indictment, Wang, Liu and others maintained and operated warehouses to store, conceal and sell large amounts of contraband goods that were illegally imported into the United States from China. When the contraband containers were selected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for inspection, the defendants hired commercial truck drivers to transport the containers from the Port of Los Angeles to locations that the conspirators controlled, including warehouses in the City of Industry that were controlled or managed by Zheng, Wang and others.

At these locations, co-conspirators broke the security seals on the shipping containers and removed the contraband from inside. Then, they affixed counterfeit security seals onto the containers to conceal that cargo had been removed from them. After emptying some of the cargo and re-securing the containers with counterfeit seals, Wang and others then directed co-conspirators to transport the containers to CBP-authorized locations for the remaining cargo to be presented to customs officials for inspection.

Wang, Liu and others paid fees to co-conspirators, including Gomez and Castillo Perez, that were substantially above normal trucking fees to transport the contraband shipping containers.

To date, law enforcement has seized more than $1.3 billion worth of counterfeit goods associated with this and similar seal-swapping schemes.

If convicted of all charges, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each conspiracy count, up to 10 years in federal prison for each count of breaking customs seals, and up to 20 years in prison for each smuggling count.

Anyone with information on alleged customs fraud are encouraged to call the HSI Tip Line at 877-4-HSI-TIP.

Learn more about HSI’s mission to protect the U.S. economy in your community on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSILosAngeles.