81 Arrested in Chinese Smuggling Case
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WASHINGTON — Federal agents have arrested 81 people in an investigation of a gang accused of smuggling Chinese people into this country and holding them for ransom.
Agents said 63 people were taken into custody after a federal raid on a small three-bedroom home in Mitchellville, Md. Six others were seized at a Washington restaurant, and the FBI said 12 were detained in New York.
John O’Malley of the Baltimore office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service said that, because of language problems, it still was not clear who was a captive immigrant and who was a captor. He said the Mitchellville group, which included seven women and five children, appeared to be in good physical condition.
Officials said it appears that the Chinese were brought ashore in Virginia in March and the Maryland home was a holding point for moving captives to New York.
The Fuk Ching gang is known for smuggling Chinese into the country and forcing them to work in slave conditions in New York or Los Angeles Chinatown sweatshops until relatives pay $30,000 or more for their release.
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