Counterfeit Cigarette Ring Busted

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown (center), joined by Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice (left) and Nassau County Police Department Commissioner Lawrence W. Mulvey (right), announced that three alleged members of a Queens-based counterfeit cigarette ring have been arrested and nearly 58,000 cartons of illegal, untaxed cigarettes and $325,000 in cash have been seized following a raid on a Corona warehouse.
More than half of the untaxed cigarettes seized at the warehouse are believed to be counterfeit and imported from China, posing a serious health risk to their consumers.
The defendants have been identified as Chinese nationals Min Liang Yu, 21, of 92-06 50th Avenue in Elmhurst; Ru Dong Chen, 46, of 748 40th Street in Brooklyn; and Yulin Zhuang, 43, of 630 57th Street, also in Brooklyn. The three defendants were arraigned on Friday, August 10 before Queens Criminal Court Judge Ira Margulies on a 423,453-count complaint, charging each of the defendants with first-degree trademark counterfeiting, first-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and violating the New York State tax law.
Bail was set at $500,000 for Yu, and $250,000 each for Chen and Zhuang. The defendants, who face up to 15 years in prison if convicted, were ordered to return to court on August 21.
The investigation began in February of this year after the Nassau County Police Department received a tip about counterfeit cigarettes coming into Nassau County. The Asset Forfeiture Bureau began investigating the ring and conducted a series of purchases from distribution points in Nassau and Queens Counties. The investigation led to the surveillance of a Corona warehouse which was ultimately believed to be the New York-metropolitan headquarters for the operation.