A Chinese organized crime boss and his top lieutenant were convicted in a New York court of murdering two people who were the wrong targets in a drug-related hit in Toronto, authorities said Tuesday.
The leader of the criminal enterprise, Sui Min Ma, aka Frank Ma, and his lieutenant, Bing Yi Chen, aka Ah Ngai, were convicted in Manhattan federal court over the July 1994 murders.
Ma pleaded guilty to the charges on September 20, while Chen was found guilty by a jury on Tuesday, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York said in a statement.
In the summer of 1994, Ma's main heroin supplier in Hong Kong asked him to kill his drug partner in Toronto, it said.
Ma agreed to arrange the murder and tasked Chen with preparing a hit squad, the statement said.
On July 20, 1994, two hitmen stormed into a business office where the intended victim was supposed to be, but instead killed two office workers who were not involved in drug trafficking, the US attorney said.
Ma's group, known as the Frank Ma Organization, imported millions of dollars of heroin from Asia into the United States between 1991-1996, the statement said.
The group also exported stolen cars to China, robbed computer chip manufacturers, took part in illegal gambling, and smuggled immigrants, the US attorney's office said.
The organization had connections in Hong Kong and China but operated mainly in New York and California, it said.
Ma and Chen face up to life behind bars and a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison on each of the two murder charges. Their sentencing is scheduled for January.
