An official said on Friday that a Chinese smuggler paid a U.S. immigration agent up to $1 million to allow more than 200 Chinese emigrants into the United States by way of the Virgin Islands. At a detention hearing, Magistrate Jeffrey Resnick ordered jailed without bail inspector Juanito Creque of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; Leonard Y. Hu, the alleged smuggler, and five illegal immigrants. Creque and Hu are charged with conspiracy to smuggle illegal aliens across a U.S. border. Hu is charged with bribery and Creque with accepting a payoff. U.S. Attorney Terry Halpern said in asking for their detention, ``They are international travelers with connections in many foreign points along the route used to bring Red Chinese from mainland China to St. Croix and St. Thomas.'' Customs agent Ramon Davila, who posed undercover as a co-conspirator during the investigation, said in an affidavit that the aliens traveled to the Virgin Islands by way of Hong Kong, London and the West Indies island of Antigua. Davila said Hu paid Creque $5,000 each _ or up to $1 million _ for more than 200 illegal Chinese immigrants Creque allowed to enter the Caribbean territory and continue on to the the mainland United States last year. Davila said Hu paid him $15,000 in bribes to allow five Chinese safe passage to the United States in November. He said in the affidavit that Hu and the five aliens were kept under surveillance and traced to a restaurant on Mott Street, in New York City's Chinatown district. Hu, Creque and six others were arrested this week at St. Thomas airport as the aliens were trying to travel to New York. The six others _ Antiguans Everton Coates and his wife Millentine, and Chinese Tong Xiang Yang, Zhou Tu Ni, Jufoi Wu and Dian Min Zheng _ were charged with conspiracy and entry without inspection. According to Davila's affidavit, Coates was the Antiguan contact and his wife coordinated the alien shipment and was in communication with Creque. Mrs. Coates was released on $35,000 property bond. All the other remained in jail. A trial date has not been set.
