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Feds: Drug Ring Busted; 18 Indicted

Posted on: Thursday, 6 April 2006, 09:00 CDT

By Gary L. Wright, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Apr. 6--Federal authorities announced Wednesday that they've dismantled a drug-smuggling ring operating in Charlotte and charged 18 people with conspiring to distribute Ecstasy and marijuana.

The suspects, mostly of Vietnamese descent, also are charged with conspiring to launder money.

Federal prosecutors say the suspects are believed to be members of a Canadian smuggling organization that operated in and around Charlotte.

The organization, according to court documents, is responsible for smuggling into the United States from Canada about 100,000 tablets of Ecstasy and about 300 pounds of marijuana since April 2005.

"When parents worry about illegal drugs and drug abuse, they typically think of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana," U.S. Attorney Gretchen Shappert said. "They do not think about Ecstasy. But they should."

Ecstasy is a derivative of methamphetamine and is generally sold in tablet form. It produces a euphoric high. The so-called designer drug has become popular among teenagers and young adults.

A court document identified the leader of the Canadian organization as John Nguyen.

An affidavit by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent said Nguyen attempted to hide the source of his drug proceeds and assets acquired with the drug money by forming a phony business front called T-Nail Salon. Federal prosecutors said that alleged front is located at 7308-B Independence Blvd.

The front, according to the affidavit, was used to launder the drug proceeds and as a place where Nguyen could meet with members of his organization.

Law enforcement officers obtained their information about the alleged drug-smuggling organization by intercepting calls on mobile phones and keeping the suspects under surveillance.

They watched as one person carried large trash bags filled with what they believed was marijuana from a house basement and put them into the trunk of a car, according to the affidavit.

Last month, officers kept a Jeep Commander under surveillance as it traveled north on Interstate 77 near Statesville. Iredell County sheriff's deputies stopped the vehicle and discovered a gift-wrapped box containing $103,835 in shrink-wrapped U.S. currency on the floorboard behind the front passenger's seat, the federal agent wrote in the affidavit.

The driver said he legitimately earned the money as a nail technician, according to the affidavit. The money was seized.

A federal grand jury in Charlotte indicted the 18 suspected members of the drug-smuggling organization last week. The indictment was unsealed Tuesday.

Nine of the suspects, most of whom live in the Charlotte area, were arrested Tuesday, authorities said. Two have agreed to voluntarily surrender. Seven are fugitives.

The drug conspiracy charge and the money-laundering-conspiracy charge are each punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)

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