Chinese immigrant driver arrested in upstate New York drug bust

A Chinese-speaking driver, identified only as Zhuo, accepted a long-distance booking that led him on a seven-hour journey from New York City to a Mohawk reservation near the Canadian border—only to discover he was transporting cargo without a passenger.

The Booking

The customer messaged Zhuo: "I'd like to book a vehicle. It's long-distance."

"How many people and how many pieces of luggage?" Zhuo replied.

"One person, about six to seven boxes," the customer wrote.

They agreed on a price of $940, including gas and tolls. The customer sent a $100 deposit along with pickup and drop-off locations in northern New York State and midtown Manhattan. Zhuo did not examine the addresses closely and assumed the passenger was likely an international student.

The Journey North

The next morning, Zhuo drove north on I-87, following directions on his phone. Snow covered the trees along the highway, and temperatures dropped the farther he traveled. After roughly 300 miles, he arrived in New York's North Country, near the Canadian border.

Zhuo speaks little English and could not read many of the signs. But after heading west on New York State Route 37, he noticed something unusual: nearly every establishment advertised itself with a leaf. Unbeknownst to him, he was on a Mohawk reservation called Akwesasne, which straddles the U.S.-Canada border. After New York legalized marijuana in 2021, the reservation became a popular location for cannabis shops, in part because the tribe's licensing rules were easier to navigate than the state's.

The Pickup

About seven hours after leaving home, Zhuo arrived at the address—18 State Route 37—and was surprised to find a gas station. He rested in his car and, at exactly 11 A.M., texted his customer in Mandarin: "Are you outside?"

"Yes, right away," the contact replied. But no one appeared. When Zhuo texted again, the contact responded: "Bro, my friend overslept. He is packing."

After another 40 minutes, the contact wrote: "Let me know how much you charge for the waiting fee."

"Tell him to get ready faster because I need to drive seven hours back," Zhuo replied.

Around 2 P.M., a man wearing sunglasses and a Buffalo Bills ski hat arrived in a white pickup truck. Zhuo had expected a Chinese passenger, but this man was not; they could barely communicate. The man directed Zhuo to follow him to a house, where he loaded 12 items from a garage into Zhuo's minivan: cardboard boxes, a suitcase, two bags, and a plastic bin with an orange top.

The Passenger Stays Behind

As the items filled the van, Zhuo cleared the front passenger seat. "You sit here," he told the man.

"No," the man replied. "I am not going."

"O.K., O.K.," Zhuo said, then called the customer. "He's not going to New York?" he asked in Mandarin. "Only these things are going to New York?"

The customer confirmed this was correct. As Zhuo began driving, the two continued talking, with a camera in the rearview mirror recording the conversation.

"You've got all the stuff—don't go messing with it!" the customer said.

"What do you mean by messing with it?" Zhuo replied. "I am heading back now. Don't worry."

Growing Suspicion

Thirty seconds after hanging up, Zhuo called a friend, a fellow driver in New York City. "Let me ask you something," he said. "I got a situation." He explained where he was and what had happened, then asked if his friend thought the boxes contained "anything not clean."

"Very hard to say," his friend said.

"So what should I do now?"

"How am I supposed to know? Why don't you open it and inspect it?"

Zhuo said he would not "dare open up other people's stuff." The two discussed the situation further.

"Could it be marijuana in the car?" Zhuo asked. "What does marijuana even smell like?"

"Marijuana smells like marijuana," his friend said.

"I did smell something kind of fragrant," Zhuo said.

Zhuo later said he had never smoked marijuana and had not been exposed to it while growing up in China, where it is illegal.

"Shit, I'm just feeling unsure about this right now," he told his friend. "When I came over earlier, while waiting, I felt that something was off."

But he had just driven nearly seven hours. "I didn't know what to do," he said. Then "this non-Chinese guy walked over" and "handed the box of stuff to me."