ONE of the United States' top Asian gang-busters is quitting her public prosecutor's job to fight another regional menace - copyright pirates.
Cathy Palmer - nicknamed the ''Dragon Lady'' because of her extreme persistence in fighting some of New York City Chinatown's most violent gangsters and drug runners - leaves her job as a federal prosecutor in October.
She is joining Mudge Rose Guthrie, one of the country's most prestigious legal and lobbying firms, to advise clients on fighting the intellectual property violators now running rampant in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other countries in Southeast Asia.
Ms Palmer has a long relationship with Hong Kong law enforcement authorities, having successfully extradited from the territory the notorious drug traffickers ''Onionhead'' Johnny Eng and Johnny Kon and sent both of them to jail.
Another of her successes was the prosecution of members of New York's Green Dragons gang. She is currently preparing to send the two leaders of the Tung On Tong to trial on a series of charges including conspiracy to murder.
Her high-profile job also saw her flirt with death, when a disenchanted informant sent her a deadly ''Christmas present'' in the mail - a briefcase containing a gun, which was supposed to shoot her dead on opening. Fortunately, the device did not work, and the culprit, David Kwong, was arrested and jailed.