El Monte man gets 7 years for trying to help ship over 2,000 pounds of meth to Australia

The shipping containers were marked as carrying rugs and textiles, furniture, machinery and equipment, headed to Australia — but, authorities say, they held over 2,000 pounds of meth.

Chinese national Jing Tang Li, 34, was sentenced to more than seven years in prison on Friday, July 24 for his role in a drug-trafficking organization that used various types of packaging to attempt to ship methamphetamine from Los Angeles, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Li, an El Monte resident, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine in December 2025.

Federal officials said his part was attempting to ship the illegal drugs.

In 2023, Customs and Border Patrol officers inspected shipments that were supposed to go to Australia.

In a container labeled “other carpets & other textile floor coverings” over 1,800 pounds of meth were inside black rubber mats, federal officials said, and in a “furniture leg set” package were white metal tubes with more than 70 pounds of meth inside.

The companies supposedly shipping the products were not real businesses, according to federal prosecutors.

In August 2024, Li was arrested outside of a warehouse in South El Monte that, authorities say, was “a hub for the drug-trafficking conspiracy.” In his car, law enforcement found several bags of over two pounds of methamphetamine, according to the U.S. DOJ.

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