Department of Justice
United State Attorney
- Northern District of Florida

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 08, 2006

INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES CHARGED WITH ILLEGAL IMPORTATION AND SALE OF OVER ONE MILLION POUNDS OF FALSELY LABELED CATFISH

PANAMA CITY - Gregory R. Miller, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida; David M. Uhlmann, Chief of Environmental Crimes Section, Washington, D.C.; Hal Robbins, Special Agent In Charge, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service’s Office for Law Enforcement, Southeast Division; Robert W. Weber Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and United States Customs and Border Protection, announced today that a federal grand jury has returned a forty-two count superseding indictment charging two Panama City, Florida, seafood importers and the manager of the businesses, and a number of Vietnam catfish suppliers with importing falsely labeled catfish into the United States from Vietnam and subsequently marketing those fish as grouper in the commercial seafood markets in the United States and Canada.

Arrest warrants and summonses were issued as a result of the return of the Superseding Indictment. The indictment charges the following individuals and companies:

1. DANNY D. NGUYEN, Panama City, Florida.

2. PANHANDLE TRADING, INC. (PTI), 3014 East 1st Court, Panama City, Florida 32401. According to the indictment, DANNY D. NGUYEN served as vice president of PTI, and PTI imported fish and sold the fish to PANHANDLE SEAFOOD, INC., for commercial distribution.

3. PANHANDLE SEAFOOD, INC. (PSI), 3014 East 1st Court, Panama City, Florida 32401. According to the indictment, DANNY D. NGUYEN served as vice president of PSI, and PSI acquired frozen fish fillets either from Vietnamese exporters or from PTI and marketed the product in the commercial fish market in the United States and Canada.

4. AN GIANG AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD IMPORT EXPORT COMPANY, a/k/a AFIEX SEAFOOD INDUSTRY, a/k/a A. SEAFOOD INDUSTRY (AFIEX), located in the Angiang Province, Vietnam.

5. BUU HUY, a/k/a HUY BUU, a sales representative for AFIEX.

6. MEKONGFISH COMPANY, a/k/a MEKONGFISH, a/k/a MEKONIMEX (MEKONGFISH), located in Can Tho City, Vietnam.

7. CANTHO ANIMAL FISHERY PRODUCTS PROCESSING EXPORT ENTERPRISE (CAFATEX), located in Can Tho City, Vietnam.

8. DUYEN HAI FOODSTUFFS PROCESSING FACTORY (COSEAFEX), located in Tra Vinh Province, Vietnam.

According to the Superseding Indictment filed in federal court and other court filings, it is alleged that between May 2002 and April 2005, the defendants engaged in a scheme to intentionally mislabel certain frozen farm raised catfish fillets, which were imported into the U.S. from Vietnam, in order to evade duties which had been imposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce on those imports. According to the indictment, NGUYEN and the companies PTI and PSI subsequently engaged in a scheme to sell the frozen catfish fillets as wild caught grouper in the American and Canadian commercial seafood markets. The scheme involved imports totaling over a million pounds of catfish labeled as grouper, channa, snakehead or bass. Over 250,000 pounds of the fish have been seized in this investigation.

If convicted, DANNY D. NGUYEN faces in excess of 20 years imprisonment and fines exceeding $1,000,000. BUU HUY faces up to five years imprisonment and fines totaling $250,000. The business entities face fines of up to $500,000 and the payment of all duties associated with the importation of the catfish. In addition, the United States is seeking forfeiture of the property located at 2203 Andrews Road, Lynn Haven, Florida 32444, and 3014 East 1st Court, Panama City, Florida 32401, and all of the fish that was seized during the course of this investigation.

An indictment is merely a formal charge and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless they are proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.