A Chinese man was sentenced to federal prison for attempting to illegally smuggle people from his home country to the U.S. territory of Guam in the Western Pacific Ocean, officials said on Tuesday.
Zhongli Pang, 36, attempted to smuggle Chinese visitors to the Northern Mariana Islands—U.S. territory that does not require a visa from Chinese nationals—into Guam, which does require a visa.
In June 2024, Pang and his accomplices bought a boat for $33,000, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands said in a statement.
Having no experience operating a boat—except for two short excursions—Pang agreed to transport a group of 12 Chinese nationals without lawful status, from Saipan, the capital and largest island of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), to Guam….