<p><b>‘Reads like a mashup of <i>The Godfather </i>and <i>Chinatown</i>, complete with gun battles, a ruthless kingpin and a mountain of cash. Except that it’s all true.’ – <i>Time</i></b><br><br>In this thrilling story of real-life events, the bestselling author of <i>Empire of Pain</i> investigates a secret world run by a surprising criminal: a charismatic middle-aged grandmother, who from a tiny noodle shop in New York’s Chinatown, managed a multimillion-dollar business smuggling people.<br><br>In <i>The Snakehead</i>, Patrick Radden Keefe reveals the inner workings of Cheng Chui Ping aka Sister Ping’s complex empire and recounts the decade-long FBI investigation that eventually brought her down. He follows an often incompetent and sometimes corrupt INS as it pursues desperate immigrants risking everything to come to Americ
