Man Found Innocent in Heroin Case
A Hong Kong businessman has been acquitted of charges of smuggling $25 million worth of “China white” heroin into Long Beach Harbor aboard a freighter.
Charn Kwan Wong, 43, was found innocent on three counts of a federal indictment that charged him with importing 31 pounds of high-grade heroin found in the cabin of a cargo ship that sailed into Long Beach on Nov. 24.
Wong, a Hong Kong food exporter, claimed throughout the three-day trial that he had hired an intermediary, Wing Wah Tin, to help him smuggle valuable Chinese antiquities into the country but claimed that there was never any discussion of importing heroin.
Tin was arrested near the Queen Mary, where he had arranged to meet Wong, and eventually pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import heroin.
He testified that he and Wong had, in fact, discussed importing antiquities, but Assistant U.S. Atty. Thomas K. Buck argued that “antiquities” had simply been a euphemism for heroin.
Wong’s lawyer, Stephen M. Hogg, said Tin must have brought in the heroin for someone else but said Tin never identified the other clients for fear of retribution.
No Chinese antiques were ever found. Neither was a man who Wong and Tin said helped set up the transaction, identified variously as “Ah Wah” and “Mr. Kwok.”
U.S. District Judge Harry L. Hupp set Tin’s sentencing for March 28.
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