Chinese National Charged for Allegedly Trafficking Methamphetamine
Udumbara
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A Chinese national illegally living in California has been charged with allegedly taking part in an international trafficking conspiracy involving the shipment of methamphetamine from Mexico to the United States and then to other countries, including New Zealand.
He is being charged with “one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine,” according to the statement. Prosecutors said he now faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted.
In January 2024, the owner of an unnamed virtual mailbox service in Wasilla, Alaska, contacted the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) to report that one of its customers—referred to as “J.B.”—was “being impersonated,” according to the affidavit.
An inspector reviewed J.B.’s USPS Form 1583—which is a document granting third parties permission to receive and handle mail on behalf of an individual or business—and found a fraudulent photo of J.B. as a “young African American male with an address in Palmdale, California” that was used to open an account with the virtual mailbox service.
The inspector subsequently obtained a warrant and searched two UPS parcels that had been sent to J.B.’s account and were bound for New Zealand. The search found “close to three kilograms of methamphetamine” worth more than $1 million concealed inside a “heat transfer stamping machine” and a 3D printer, according to the affidavit.
Alaska’s Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory was able to match fingerprints found on the two machines to He, the affidavit stated.
In May 2024, USPIS obtained surveillance video at two post offices in Arizona showing that He had sent multiple parcels bound for New Zealand. The parcels were later found to contain methamphetamine.
He was also captured on a store video in California sending several packages to a third-party re-shipper in Portland, Oregon. Investigators subsequently found white crystalline substances, according to the affidavit.
On Sept. 8, USPIS, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant at a residence in Alhambra, California, where He was one of three Chinese nationals present at the scene.
Inside He’s bedroom at the residence, federal authorities seized 14 cell phones, two laptops, 25 point-of-sale systems, about 6 kilograms of a white crystalline substance consistent with methamphetamine, more than $13,400 in cash, and various financial documents.
“The financial documents included information for nine suspected shell or front businesses that had been registered in California, Colorado, Maryland, and New York. These businesses were in either Zukai HE’s name or predominantly under the names of others whose identities appear to have been stolen and fraudulently used,” the affidavit reads.
He was subjected to an order of deportation in September 2024, according to prosecutors.
The Attorney’s Office said He is in federal custody and will make his initial court appearance on a later date.
