Federal law enforcement agents sent out mock wedding invitations to a yacht called Royal Charm docked off Atlantic City to lure 42 people who were accused of taking part in an Asian smuggling ring that brought counterfeit money, drugs and cigarettes into the United States.
The wedding of two supposed American smugglers were actually FBI undercover agents. The smugglers overseas operations were based in Asia, including North Korea, Thailand, and China.
The smugglers, using shipping containers that they claimed were carrying items like toys and rattan furniture, brought tens of millions of dollars in contraband into the United States in recent years. Counterfeit cigarettes totaled more than $40 million in street value, the officials said, and federal authorities also confiscated two shipments in New Jersey with $3.4 million in counterfeit currency. Also seized were 36,000 Ecstasy pills and about a pound of methamphetamine. (Source: Eric Lichtblau, The New York Times, August 23, 2005).