Chinese National Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Marijuana Trafficking Conspiracy

A 36-year-old Chinese national has been sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to a drug trafficking conspiracy charge involving marijuana.The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana said on July 10 that Chen Like, a naturalized U.S. citizen from China, had been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg G. Guidry to 24 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release.Chen Like had pleaded guilty to “conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, a mixture and substance containing one hundred (100) kilograms or more of a detectable amount of marijuana” on April 1.Chen Like’s case is part of a broader investigation that came to light in 2025, when prosecutors in New Orleans announced racketeering and drug charges against six individuals. The defendants included three illegal Chinese immigrants—Zeng Zihang, Wu Hanjie, and Zhou Yilei—along with Chen Wei Bin, a Chinese lawful permanent U.S. resident; Aaron Steele, a U.S. citizen from Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and Chen Like.In May, Zheng pleaded guilty, and Chen Wei Bin was sentenced to 2 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Zhou is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 5.A court filing on April 1 detailed Chen Like’s role in the drug trafficking scheme.On April 14, 2025, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents conducted surveillance at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston to observe Wu’s arrival from California, noting that he was a “known marijuana distributor.” Wu eventually left the airport with Zhou, and the two drove to Zeng’s residence in Katy, Texas.Later that same day, Wu, Zhou, and Zeng departed together from the Katy residence and drove to a residence in Denham Springs, Louisiana, where they arrived on April 15, 2025.Hours after the trio arrived, Chen Wei Bin and Chen Like exited the Denham Springs residence and drove to a local storage facility, where agents observed them “retrieve multiple black trash bags” and load them into their vehicle, the filing said.Separately, also on April 15, 2025, Wu, Zhou, Chen Wei Bin, Chen Like, and Steele all drove to another local facility. DEA agents “saw a large amount of what was suspected to be marijuana loaded into [Steele’s vehicle],” according to the filing.Later that same day, the Forrest County Sheriff’s officers in Mississippi conducted a traffic stop of Chen Like’s vehicle along Interstate 59 for “following too closely to the vehicle in front of it.”When asked whether he was transporting cocaine, heroin, or marijuana, Chen Like responded, “No.”After Chen Like granted consent to search his vehicle, officers found about 96 pounds (43.5 kilograms) of marijuana concealed inside two boxes of trash bags.Mississippi Police Department officers also carried out a traffic stop of Steele’s vehicle on Interstate 59 and found about 50 pounds of marijuana hidden in two large brown boxes.On April 16, 2025, officers from Livingston Parish, Louisiana, executed search warrants at the residence and storage facility in Denham Springs. Zeng fled from the back of the residence before officers apprehended him.Inside the residence, Livingston Parish officers found $1,552 in currency, hundreds of rubber bands, a vacuum bag sealer, and a money counter.Inside the storage facility, the officers found 85 pounds (38.5 kilograms) of marijuana.