A Chinese national residing illegally in the United States has been charged with participating in an international drug trafficking conspiracy that involved shipping methamphetamine from Mexico into the U.S. and then to New Zealand using a virtual mailbox service, including one located in Wasilla, Alaska.
Court documents allege that Zukai He, 42, entered the country unlawfully in 2017 and was under an order of removal since September 2024. While living in the U.S., He is accused of stealing personal information from a California resident to open an account at the Wasilla virtual mailbox service. In January 2024, law enforcement intercepted two parcels sent to this fraudulent account which were intended for delivery to New Zealand. Federal search warrants revealed nearly three kilograms of methamphetamine hidden inside a heat transfer stamping machine and a 3D printer.
Further investigation led authorities to discover that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol had seized four parcels mailed from Phoenix, Arizona, also destined for New Zealand, each containing over one kilogram of methamphetamine. A fifth similar parcel was intercepted by CBP with more than one kilogram of the drug.
Law enforcement identified Zukai He as the person allegedly responsible for mailing these packages. Authorities ultimately seized over ten kilograms of methamphetamine linked to this operation.
On September 8, 2025, federal agents executed a search warrant at He's residence in California where they arrested him and confiscated 14 cell phones, two laptops, 25 point-of-sale systems, more than six kilograms of a substance consistent with methamphetamine, over $13,000 in cash and financial documents related to nine suspected shell or front businesses registered across California, Colorado, Maryland and New York. These businesses were either under He's name or those of alleged identity theft victims.
He faces one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. He remains in federal custody pending his initial court appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the District of Alaska. If convicted he could face up to forty years imprisonment; sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge according to sentencing guidelines and statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska stated: "A criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law."
The case was announced by Heyman along with Inspector in Charge Anthony Galetti from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Seattle Division Office and Special Agent in Charge David Reames from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Seattle Field Division.
The investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Anchorage Domicile alongside DEA offices in Seattle and Anchorage with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephan Collins and Alana Weber are prosecuting.
This prosecution falls under Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline), which coordinates resources within the Department of Justice through initiatives such as Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) aimed at combating illegal immigration as well as dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
