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PODCAST

The Chinatown Sting

Pushkin Industries

In the late 1980s, a group of women connected through the mahjong parlors in Manhattan’s Chinatown were caught in a massive undercover drug bust. This bust was just the beginning of an even bigger case. Host Lidia Jean Kott and co-reporter Shuyu Wang interview sources who’ve never spoken on record before, including witnesses, defendants, and federal prosecutors, to reconstruct a case that still has repercussions today. The Chinatown Sting drops weekly on Tuesdays. Get early, ad-free

true crime documentary

All Episodes

49:52

Introducing Deep Cover Presents: Snowball

The Chinatown Sting ·

2025/11/10

We’re sharing a preview of another podcast we think you’ll enjoy, Deep Cover Presents: Snowball. Snowball follows journalist Ollie Wards as he unravels the wild story of how his own family was taken in, and taken down, by a charming con woman from California…and tries to find out where she is now. He embarks on a question to find out how she did it, why she did it, and where she is now. Financial ruin, shattered trust, and a mystery that stretches across continents and

en-US

5:38

From Revisionist History: The Alabama Murders

The Chinatown Sting ·

2025/10/30

Here's a preview from the new season of Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History podcast, The Alabama Murders. Florence, Alabama. 1988. A preacher has an affair. A woman is murdered. One death cascades into more, stretching across decades and leaving no one untouched — victims, bystanders, perpetrators, and those just trying to help. Eventually, the consequences lead to the center of a hot national debate on who should be allowed to live, who should die, and how the state should kill them. On

en-US

29:38

Grandson of a Paper Son

The Chinatown Sting ·

2025/10/28

Judge Denny Chin serves on the US Court of Appeals in New York and he’s an expert on Asian Americans and the law. Every year, he helps to stage reenactments of landmark cases in which Asian Americans fought for their legal and civil rights. Judge Chin speaks with Lidia Jean Kott about his family history and why he became a judge.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

28:35

Life as a Flying Dragon

The Chinatown Sting ·

2025/10/21

Cowboy, now known as CB, was once a member of the powerful Flying Dragons gang, led by Johnny Eng, aka Onionhead. CB speaks with Lidia Jean Kott about why he joined the gang, about street-violence PTSD, and how he wound up in prison for 16 years. He also has an update on what Johnny Eng is up to today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

32:09

Episode 6: A Sense of Order

The Chinatown Sting ·

2025/10/14

After five days of deliberation, a jury finally returns a verdict in the case of Johnny Eng. Its ultimate meaning depends on whom you ask —and the lessons it taught the justice system may already be forgotten. For more: Mike Moy’s memoir book Bad to Blue and his Chinatown Gang Stories channel on YouTube. Rong Xiaoqing’s article inDocumented, "Ghosts of Chinatown."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

33:51

Episode 5: The Mastermind

The Chinatown Sting ·

2025/10/07

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 bookWarlords of Crime. Fredric Dannen’s pieces inThe New Yorker, "Revenge of the Green

en-US

32:04

Episode 4: A Ghost Hand

The Chinatown Sting ·

2025/09/30

Lidia Jean and Shuyu search for traces of Johnny Eng, aka “Onionhead,” the elusive leader of the Flying Dragons gang. He’s nowhere to be found in his former estate in rural Pennsylvania. Back in the late 1980s, he was nowhere to be found at all. Could prosecutor Beryl Howell ever bring him to justice? Meanwhile, Tina Wong is caught in the gamble of her life. For more check out the documentary: Machine Gun Johnny: Johnny Eng Get early, ad-free access to the entire season of The

en-US

36:02

Episode 3: What’s a Friend?

The Chinatown Sting ·

2025/09/23

Being only half Chinese, Tina Wong felt like an outsider growing up in Chinatown. But then she met another girl who was a natural leader and included her in the pack. After they grew up, that friend would eventually recruit her to accept and move packages of heroin. Now Tina faces a choice: betray her old friend, or condemn her baby daughter to growing up without a mom. Get early, ad-free access to the entire season of The Chinatown Sting by subscribing to Pushkin+. Subscribers also get bonus

en-US

40:47

Episode 2: Onionhead

The Chinatown Sting ·

2025/09/16

Tina Wong finds herself in handcuffs in the Brooklyn office of a new federal prosecutor, Beryl Howell. Beryl’s goal is to get Tina to tell her everything she knows about the people who recruited her. But Chinatown is a dangerous place in the 1980s, and few low-level suspects want to talk. We hear from Chinatown author Henry Chang and former gang members Mike Moy and Peter Chin about the violence and impossible choices Chinatown residents faced in those days. For more, check out: Henry

en-US

38:30

Episode 1: Lucky Bird

The Chinatown Sting ·

2025/09/16

After a major bust in 1988, DEA agents are in a race against time to find out who’s behind a scheme to import millions of dollars worth of heroin to the US. They stumble upon some unlikely suspects: young mothers like Tina Wong, who were paid to accept packages in the mail. These women will have to make a choice between protecting or betraying their friends. Lurking behind it all: the history of American Chinatowns, which developed to protect immigrants from a hostile society. For more, check

en-US

3:05

Introducing: The Chinatown Sting

The Chinatown Sting ·

2025/09/02

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

en-US

11 results

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