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.
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Episode 6: A Sense of Order
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 in Documented, "Ghosts of Chinatown."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode 5: The Mastermind
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/plusSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode 4: A Ghost Hand
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 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/plusSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode 3: What’s a Friend?
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 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/plusSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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 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/pushkinSubscribe on Pushkin: pushkin.fm/plus
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