Operation Desert Fox

An Asian man buys a pack of cigarettes from a gas station out of town. It’s freezing cold in the desert at night. The man barely speaks English. “Cigalette” he utters to the clerk. “Malbolo”. The clerk looks the man over and grabs a pack of Marlboro Red from the display and tosses it in front of the Asian man. He’s clearly somewhat resentful of the foreigner he never sees around here.

But recently there have been three Chinese-looking fellows that have been passing by the gas station on and off. Do they work here somewhere? He’s never seen a foreign laborer around here before. And most of the time they reek. A chemical odor follows them everywhere they go. It’s disgusting.

The Asian man departs in his van and drives off listening to some Jackie Cheung. A few miles from the gas station he spots a car with high beams in his mirrors. He feels uneasy. After a while of following him, the car finally takes over. ‘STOP POLICE’ says a bright red LED on the back of the car.

The clerk reported the men to the police somewhat of a racist as he is. Turns out the foreigners were running a methamphetamine op somewhere remotely in the desert. DEA found bunkbeds so they probably slept in there too. No ID. When they busted the joint, they had already arrested two of the three drug laborers. The last one? Put a gun in his mouth the moment the DEA kicked the door.

The vats with chemicals had Chinese writings on them. Most likely precursor chemicals from China. And the product? Heading Westward. The DEA is onto something new and it’s bigger than they could have imagined.

Super Wok Explosion is a unique animated web-series about Chinese organized crime. The project is funded entirely by its audience. On this website, animator Tony Cheuk likes to share information about Asian organized crime—and world-building of the universe of the series, Chinese tongs and triads. If you're interested in learning more about the project, you can click here.