Introducing: The Chinatown Sting

About this episode

The episode introduces the investigation into a heroin smuggling operation in New York City's Chinatown during the late 1980s.

In the late 1980s, federal authorities laid a trap. They’d gotten a tip that huge amounts of heroin were being mailed to New York City inside boxes filled with tea. The investigation would uncover a network of drug smugglers who used women recruited at mahjong parlors in Chinatown. Host Lidia Jean Kott and co-reporter Shuyu Wang interview sources who’ve never spoken on record before, including federal prosecutors, to reconstruct a years-long effort to bring down one of the most powerful gangsters in Chinatown. The Chinatown Sting drops weekly on Tuesdays starting September 16. 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.

People in this episode

Host: Lidia Jean Kott

Guest: Shuyu Wang

Topics covered

• drug smuggling
• Chinatown
• true crime
• federal investigation
• heroin trafficking

Keywords

• heroin
• drug smugglers
• mahjong parlors
• federal prosecutors
• Chinatown Sting

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Pushkin Industries

Places: New York City, Chinatown

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 5: The Mastermind · October 7, 2025 · 34 min
• Episode 4: A Ghost Hand · September 30, 2025 · 32 min
• Episode 3: What’s a Friend? · September 23, 2025 · 36 min