A federal indictment, returned Wednesday, names numerous Vietnamese in a huge bust of an Ecstasy ring in L.A. County, the U.S. Attorney’s office announced Thursday here.
The indictment accuses 15 defendants in a conspiracy to possess and distribute MDMA, the drug more commonly known as Ecstasy, in quantities that exceed a million pills.
And at the head of this list is a young Vietnamese-American, 29-year-old Jimmy Luong.
Numerous other members of the ring also have Vietnamese last names.
According to the US Attorney’s press release, the investigation by the DEA and the Beverly Hills PD “resulted in the seizure of at least 1,134,000 MDMA tablets (investigators are still counting pills seized two weeks ago), 33 kilograms of cocaine, well over $500,000 in cash believed to be the proceeds of drug trafficking and 21 firearms, which include assault rifles and stolen weapons with hollow-point ammunition.”
At approximately $15 a pill, the value of Ecstasy seized is estimated at at least $17 million.
Luong is accused of having a “stash house” in the City of Industry that served as the base of operations for the ring. “During the execution of a search warrant at Luong’s stash house last month, authorities found an operating laboratory capable of manufacturing MDMA and large quantities of methamphetamine.”
“At a second stash location at a storage facility in Arcadia, authorities in June seized approximately 510,000 MDMA tablets. A third stash location yielded approximately 200,000 MDMA tablets when Luong and his associates were arrested last month.”
Other defendants include the following people with Viet last names:
Toan Hoang, 33, of El Monte, who allegedly served as Luong’s second-in-command;
David Luu, 21, of Monterey Park, who allegedly helped distribute wholesale quantities of MDMA for the Luong organization and collected drug sale proceeds for delivery back to Luong;
Michael Duong, 27, of Rosemead;
Duy Nguyen, 22, of Fountain Valley;
Long Nguyen, 22, of Santa Ana; and
Tuan Vu, 24, of Alhambra, who is a fugitive.
The drug trafficking charge alleged in the indictment carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison or up to 30 years in prison for defendants who have a prior felony drug conviction.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty.
are these guys working for COUNCIL WOMAN DINA NGUYEN”S brother?
Where do you think van tran and andy quach’s campaign monies come from? Oop……there it is.
Are these pills responsible for Dina’s ding dong behavior?