Four alleged narcotraffickers from California have been sentenced to federal charges for supposedly masterminding an international drug smuggling syndicate that flooded the Indo-Pacific with massive amounts of narcotics ingeniously stashed in everyday items, the Justice Department reported on Thursday.
Two of the accused, Hoang Xuan Le, known on the streets as “Big Bro,” “Blue,” and “Knockout,” and Tri Cao Buinguyen, dubbed “Bro” and “Mango,” were cuffed Thursday and hauled into court for a round of arraignments, while their accomplices, Trung Buinguyen and Narongsak Champy, are being sought by law enforcement.
The charges include one count of conspiracy to export controlled substances and another for conspiracy to distribute, with Le and Tri facing an extra jab for distribution of meth. Le and Tri could be looking at a lifetime sentence behind bars.
Authorities snagged upwards of 755 kilos of methamphetamine and over 100 kilos of cocaine, which could be worth anywhere from $65 million to $160 million. The operation was slick: hiding drugs in shipments of car parts, instant noodles, and even emergency kits. One particularly crafty shipment included 390 kilos of meth hidden in noodle and seasoning packets bound for Australia, according to the Justice Department's announcement.
The feds say the group was utilizing military-grade encryption on phones and apps like Signal to communicate, all while using aliases and fake businesses to get past customs. It was a global effort to disrupt, with the US Postal Service, the DEA, Customs and Border Protection, and international agencies from Australia, Papua New Guinea, and New Zealand all playing a part in stopping this ring.
The Central District of California United States Attorney's Office and HSI conducted an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation that resulted in this case, which is prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gregg E. Marmaro.
