September 27, 2007

Operation Tien Can cracks international money laundering organization operating in the U.S. and Canada
11 charged and arrested in Houston, Canada and elsewhere

HOUSTON - Eleven individuals charged in a 14-count federal indictment with conspiracy and laundering millions of dollars in alleged drug proceeds in the United States and Canada have been arrested following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-led operation dubbed Operation Tien Can.

The indictments were announced today by U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle, Southern District of Texas, and Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for ICE Julie L. Myers.

ICE was joined in the investigation by agents from Houston's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Money Laundering Initiative, which include the Houston Police Department, the Harris County Sheriff's Department, and the Pasadena (Texas) Police Department. ICE also received substantial assistance in the case from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police RCMP).

The operation, which began in December 2006, targeted members of an organization allegedly involved in collecting, transporting, and delivering millions of dollars in drug proceeds from Houston, Texas, to Toronto, Canada, and to and from many other U.S. cities.

During the course of Operation Tien Can, authorities seized millions of dollars in alleged drug proceeds and kilogram quantities of cocaine. Today, 11 suspected members of the organization were arrested in Texas, California, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Washington, and Toronto, Canada.

"Today's dismantling of this international criminal organization is the result of an exemplary collaboration with our Canadian law enforcement partners," said Julie L. Myers, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for ICE. "Our ability to work together across borders has had a direct impact on transnational criminal enterprises and has made both of our countries more secure."

"Today's operation underscores the international nature of the threat posed by narcotics trafficking," said U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle. "We and our international partners are up to the task on this war on drugs."

Today, in Canada, investigators with the RCMP arrested Nguyen Thi Dao Vo, 42, Hongkhai Nguyen, 50, and Huyen Thi Mong Tran, 41, all residents of Canada. The United States has requested these three defendants be extradited to the United States to face the charges pending against them in this district.

Agents arrested five of the defendants in Houston this morning and they remain in federal custody this afternoon. They are: Ly Phan Le, 35, Nguyen Quang Hoang, 33, Chuong Nguyen, 29, Duy Khan Hoang Le, 29, and Lan Ngo, 35. Each has appeared before a U.S. Magistrate Sept. 26, and they have been ordered temporarily detained pending the scheduling of a detention hearing.

Three other defendants charged in the case were arrested in other U.S. cities. They are: Son Thanh Tran, 37, Minneapolis, Minn.; Danny Chau, 37, Los Angeles, Calif.; and Dinh Van Vu, 42, of Dallas, Texas. These defendants will make their initial appearance in a federal court in these jurisdictions pending transfer to the Southern District of Texas. In all cases, the United States will be asking the court to detain each defendant without bond pending trial.

According to the indictment, between December 2006 and September 2007, the 11 defendants conspired with one another and others to launder drug proceeds with the intent to promote drug trafficking or to conceal the source or ownership of the proceeds. As part of the scheme, the defendants allegedly directed other conspirators to travel to locations throughout the United States to collect narcotics proceeds in amounts ranging from $150,000 to more than $400,000 and then deliver the cash to yet other conspirators. The co-conspirators were paid for collecting, transporting and delivering the cash.

Between January and May 2007, agents seized about $2.5 million in alleged drug proceeds collected by suspected members of this organization. Seizures of bulk cash amounts included $575,150 and $473,930 seized on separate dates in Los Angeles, Calif.; $460,500 in Chino Hills, Calif.; $892,040 in Anaheim Hills, Calif.; $300,100 in Detroit, Mich.; and $245,000 in New Castle County, Del. The indictment further alleges that during the course of the conspiracy about 50 kilograms of cocaine were seized in April 2007 from an alleged member of the organization in Oroville, Wash.

Each of the 11 defendants is charged with at least one substantive money laundering count. Each of the 13 counts represents a separate instance occurring between January 2007 and August 2007 in which the amounts of money involved in the transactions ranged from $40,000 to $420,000 and totaled more than $1.8 million.

The indictment also seeks to forfeit the interest the 11 defendants collected from about $10 million in suspected drug proceeds.

The conspiracy count and each of the substantive money laundering counts carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $500,000, or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ted Imperato and Claude Hippard, Southern District of Texas.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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