A Chinese national has been sentenced in Los Angeles to more than seven years in U.S. federal prison for attempting to ship more than a metric ton of methamphetamine to Australia.
Li Jing Tang, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine in December last year. On July 24, he was sentenced to 87 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Wesley L. Hsu, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Prosecutors alleged that Li was involved with a drug trafficking organization from February 2023 through December 2023, during which law enforcement officials inspected seven shipments destined for Australia and seized over 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of methamphetamine.
Methamphetamine is a Schedule II stimulant. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), U.S. overdose deaths involving methamphetamine increased from 9,438 in 2017 to 34,167 in 2023.
One of the shipments took place on Feb. 11, 2023, according to the plea agreement, when Li conspired with others in an attempt to ship a package labeled “other carpets & other textile floor coverings” from Los Angeles to Australia. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intercepted the package and found two pallets with 23 cardboard boxes that had black rubber mats inside them containing a total of about 855 kilograms (1,885 pounds) of methamphetamine.
Li tried to send another shipment on Feb. 28, 2023, in a package labeled “furniture leg set” from Los Angeles to Australia. According to the plea agreement, CBP found packaging containing about 32 kilograms (71 pounds) of methamphetamine hidden inside white metal tubes.
A third package labeled “casting machine,” which Li tried to ship on June 29, 2023, was found to contain 202 kilograms (445 pounds) of methamphetamine.
Two of Li’s other packages, both labeled “tooling of wheel hub testing equipment,” were found in August 2023 to contain a total of about 102 kilograms (225 pounds) of methamphetamine.
On the same day of his arrest, law enforcement found about 957 grams of methamphetamine in his car, according to prosecutors.
In a sentencing memorandum filed earlier this month, prosecutors asked the court to sentence Li to 135 months in prison.
“The recommended sentence reflects the seriousness of trafficking methamphetamine, and will protect the public, both during the period of defendant’s imprisonment and by discouraging him from reoffending,” prosecutors wrote.
“[The] defendant engaged in the conduct purely for personal financial gain. The proposed sentence will deter others from taking a similar route.”
Li’s lawyer argued that Li had accepted responsibility and “profited very little,” and that a 60-month prison sentence would be sufficient, according to a sentencing memorandum.
“He did not operate at the highest levels of an international drug trafficking scheme. He was involved at the lowest level: building crates, driving people around, picking up packages, and purchasing materials,” Li’s lawyer wrote.
The Epoch Times contacted Li’s lawyer for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
