Mexico City , Mexico ( CNN ) -- Authorities have apprehended the alleged leader of a global human trafficking ring that smuggled Chinese migrants to New York City through Mexico . Mexican federal police arrested Huang Chen Yaowei , 31 , and rescued eight undocumented Chinese migrants , Mexico 's Secretary of Public Safety said in a statement Friday . U.S. immigration authorities arrested another suspect , Zhendi Li , in New York , the statement said . Huang is the suspected leader of an international criminal organization that charged Chinese migrants $ 80,000 for passage to the United States through Mexico . He was allegedly involved in trafficking Chinese citizens since May 2004 , Mexican authorities said . The Chinese migrants were kept in hotels in Mexico City before crossing into the United States , authorities said . The smuggling organization allegedly used counterfeit passports and visas to make the migrants think that there stay in Mexico was legal . According to the statement , Huang sent the migrants to Zhendi , `` who allegedly was responsible for receiving them in New York , later providing them housing , moving them and charging the families of the undocumented large sums of money . '' Mexican authorities said they worked with U.S. immigration officials to coordinate the investigation and the simultaneous capture of Zhendi . During Huang 's capture , Mexican federal police also confiscated an SUV , eight Chinese passports , four cell phones and more than $ 70,000 in Mexican pesos , U.S. dollars , Canadian dollars , Hong Kong dollars and euros . In January 2009 , roughly 1 percent of approximately 10.8 million unauthorized migrants in the United States -- about 120,000 people -- were from China , according to the non-profit Migration Policy Institute . Between 2005 and 2008 , the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended more than 6,000 Chinese nationals , according to figures from the Department of Homeland Security .
Another suspect has also been arrested in New York . The FBI is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism. Authorities say the Chinese migrants stayed at hotels in Mexico City .