Cheng Chui Peng, who charged a fortune and made millions smuggling people into the United States, has died of cancer at the age of 65, reports KERA
Her fees sometimes reached as high as $35,000. The New York Times reports that those that didn’t pay were sometimes beaten, tortured or raped until the debt was paid off.
She is said to have made $40 million dollars over two decades. But she paid a high price for her success.
She died in prison, having been sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2006.
You can read more from people who say they loved her, and those who say she was “one of the most powerful and most successful alien smugglers of our time.” in KERA.
