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http://www.norwalkadvocate.com/news/local/newyork/ny-ny...ay04,0,5455720.story

From Newsday

5 charged in Chinatown shakedown of drivers

BY CHUCK BENNETT
amNEWYORK

May 4, 2006

A gang of Chinatown thugs took over public parking spots on East Broadway and extorted thousands of bucks a month from hapless dollar van drivers, authorities charged yesterday.

Five men, all immigrants from China's Fujian province, were arrested and charged with extortion. Police said they shook down as many as 50 drivers every month from July 2004 to Monday.

The drivers, who transport people between Chinatown and Sunset Park in Brooklyn for $2.50 a ride, were each forced to pay hundreds of dollars a month in protection money or face beatings and threats against their families, according to the criminal complaint.

It was unclear when the suspects would be arraigned.

The vans, many of which are licensed by the Taxi & Limousine Commission, typically wait for passengers along East Broadway and Market Street in public parking spots.

"Some folks had to pay $400 a month, some had to pay $350, depending on how well they were liked by the bad guys," said Konrad Motyka, the FBI agent in charge of the case.

Adding to the insult of paying protection money, police said the gang made drivers pay for monthly banquets at Chinese restaurants, whether or not they attended.

Police identified the ringleader as Yong Wang, and said he made the drivers carry the sign for his Kassla Car & Limo even though they were not affiliated with the service.

Three of the victims, tired of the extortion, went to police and a joint investigation was formed with the FBI. Two of the drivers then agreed to wear a wire and recorded Guo Chao Zhang demanding protection money, according to the complaint.

Zhang beat an innocent woman who parked her car in one of the gang's spaces, the complaint said.

"A lot of people don't see organized crime in Chinatown anymore, not that they disappeared and vanished. They have become smarter and lower profile," said Steven Wong, a Fujian translator and community activist.

If they were from China and they are convicted of a crime in the U.S.then to protect the public they should be deported back to China where I believe the sentences are more severe.
I call immigrants that think they can enter a country and commit crime, abusers of the system that gave them a chance to start a new life, if they prove to be villains then out they go !