A Hacienda Heights man faces sentencing Monday for his role in a scheme to smuggle millions of dollars’ worth of contraband from China into the United States via the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Chenyu Zhao, 32, operated a warehouse in the City of Industry that was used to smuggle counterfeit and other illegal cargo into the country, circumventing the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s inspection process, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Zhao pleaded guilty in April in Los Angeles federal court to a charge of conspiracy to smuggle and break customs seals.

Court papers show Zhao helped direct cargo shipping containers flagged for CBP secondary inspection to unauthorized off-site locations, where accomplices unloaded the contraband in the containers, replaced it with fil

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