Episode 5: The Mastermind

About this episode

The episode discusses the legal battles faced by Johnny Eng, leader of the Flying Dragons gang, amidst multiple heroin smuggling charges.

Flying Dragons gang leader Johnny Eng faces so many separate counts of heroin smuggling that prosecutors from various jurisdictions have to join forces. But Eng’s defense lawyers ably attack the government’s cooperating witnesses in court. And Beryl faces a personal deadline that might make sticking around to the end of the trial impossible. For more check out:  Gerald Posner’s book  Warlords of Crime . Fredric Dannen’s pieces in  The New Yorker , "Revenge of the Green Dragons ” and “Defending the Mafia.” Get early, ad-free access to the entire season of The Chinatown Sting by subscribing to Pushkin+. Subscribers also get bonus episodes, exclusive binges, full audiobooks, and early ad-free listening for all Pushkin shows.  Subscribe on Apple: apple.co/pushkin Subscribe on Pushkin: pushkin.com/plus See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Topics covered

• heroin smuggling
• court trial
• defense strategy
• gang leadership
• personal dilemmas

Keywords

• Johnny Eng
• Flying Dragons
• heroin smuggling
• court trial
• defense lawyers
• cooperating witnesses
• Beryl
• Pushkin+

Sponsors

Pushkin+

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The New Yorker

Books & works: Warlords of Crime, Revenge of the Green Dragons, Defending the Mafia

More episodes of The Chinatown Sting

• Grandson of a Paper Son · October 28, 2025 · 30 min
• Life as a Flying Dragon · October 21, 2025 · 29 min
• Episode 6: A Sense of Order · October 14, 2025 · 32 min
• Episode 4: A Ghost Hand · September 30, 2025 · 32 min
• Episode 3: What’s a Friend? · September 23, 2025 · 36 min
• Episode 2: Onionhead · September 16, 2025 · 41 min