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How a Contraband Coolant Entered the United States

On June 26, Carlos Garcia, vice president of the St. Louis-based appliance supplier Marcone, was sentenced to 13 months in prison for his role in the illegal importing of more than $11 million worth of a controlled refrigerant gas called HCFC-22 by Marcone’s Miami branch. Federal laws strictly limit imports of this ozone-depleting gas while its use in this country is being phased out.

MEXICO

DOMINICAN

REPUBLIC

DOMINICAN

REPUBLIC

CHINA

BRITAIN

FROM BRITAIN

FROM WITHIN THE UNITED STATES

FROM CHINA

The American subsidiary of Harp International, a major refrigerant supplier based near Cardiff, Wales, falsified documents to give the impression that a shipment of HCFC-22 destined for Marcone was recycled and therefore in compliance with EPA import restrictions.

Coolant was manufactured for legitimate export by DuPont at its Louisville, Ky. plant. From there, it was shipped to Texas for packaging and then exported to Mexico. There, smugglers bought it and illegally reimported it into the U.S. via the Dominican Republic.

At least three separate smuggling operations funneled Chinese-made HCFC-22 into the U.S. In one case, shipments were routed through the Dominican Republic, where Mr. Garcia told smugglers how to fake invoices to get the coolant past customs officials. Smugglers later paid him a kickback of $5,120.

Some of the methods used to illegally import HCFC-22