Two-Faced Woman

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Police say she turned Shengmei into her new headquarters, continuing to travel extensively. She legally holds three passports: one from Hong Kong, one from the U.S. and one from Belize. Authorities say she has managed to make several visits to the U.S., where her son and husband continue to reside. Meanwhile she has allegedly explored new routes and techniques for getting people into the U.S. Police and immigration officials say Ping and other snakeheads have made an alliance with Serbian officials and now funnel several planeloads of immigrants a day through Belgrade to Europe and the U.S. One new method the snakeheads allegedly pioneered is the use of cargo containers to smuggle people. Last month 58 Chinese suffocated in a container being driven from the Netherlands to Britain. Sister Ping has not been connected to that case.

Last April, however, her luck ran out. Unable to locate her for five years, Interpol agents began checking passenger lists of flights from Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok airport to New York. On the April 17 flight they spotted the name of her son. More than 40 agents from the Hong Kong narcotics bureau staked out the airport and waited. Around noon, they saw Sister Ping wandering around the airport. At first she denied she was Ping, but after she was fingerprinted she admitted her identity. She was carrying her three passports when she was arrested. An Immigration and Naturalization Service spokesman boasted that the "arrest showed even the most mythic are not immune." An extradition hearing was originally scheduled for June, but Ping was hospitalized for depression, and the hearing is rescheduled for next month. She is expected to be extradited in August to face six federal charges of kidnapping, conspiracy and illegally transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom money paid by friends and families of smuggled aliens. If convicted she faces a life sentence without the hope of parole.

Yet, even after her arrest, it is not hard to find people who adore her. Ming Wang, a restaurant worker in New York City, says he lost his job because he injured his legs and was desperate for help. "A friend told me to go to Sister Ping. I told her my story, and she gave me $2,000. She said 'little brother, take this and pay me back when you can.' I still owe her $1,200, but she never asked for the money." Says Song Lin, a restaurant worker: "She is even better than Robin Hood because he stole from the rich. Sister Ping never stole anything and still helped the poor. She is a good person." Says Ping's younger sister Sue, who lives in New Jersey: "My sister was just thinking of helping others. How would she know it would get her into trouble?"