3 Convicted in Huge Seizure of Heroin
Three men were convicted Friday of smuggling to the West Coast more than 125 pounds of Chinese heroin packed in a shipment of lychee nuts in one of the largest seizures of the drug in the nation.
A federal jury convicted Hien Hai Hoac, Chau Ngoc Au and Choy Ngai Chan on six counts of conspiracy to import, possess and distribute heroin in the Dec. 21 seizure at Long Beach Harbor.
Customs officials found the heroin, worth more than $100 million, in a load of 1,000 boxes of the lychee nuts from Hong Kong, Assistant U.S. Atty. Gregory W. Alarcon said.
Authorities placed surveillance devices in the shipment to track down Hoac, who operates an importing company in Alhambra. Hoac and Au imported the drug from Chan and other suppliers in Hong Kong. Chan’s partner in Hong Kong is considered a fugitive.
All three men face maximum terms of life in prison when they are sentenced Nov. 12.
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