News
Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 19, 2006
Federal
Investigation Dismantles
Major Drug Organizations in Pacific Northwest
Investigations
Lead to Dozens of Arrests,
Multiple Pounds of BC Bud Marijuana, Cocaine
and MDMA
A two
year investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and
numerous state and local law enforcement agencies has resulted in more
than 46 arrests and the seizure of multiple pound quantities of BC
Bud marijuana, cocaine, and MDMA (street name ecstacy). In November
2005, the initial investigation dubbed “Operation Frogger,” culminated
with the dismantling of a drug dealing organization that smuggled marijuana
from Canada and distributed the drug throughout the western United
States. In turn, the group allegedly purchased multi-kilograms of cocaine
and distributed it throughout the Pacific Northwest and Canada. In
this case, 22 individuals were arrested, 23 kilograms cocaine and 1500
pounds of marijuana was seized along with $1.3 million dollars in cash
and assets.
The “Frogger” investigation
is linked to two other investigations. In a case dubbed “This
Buds Pho You,” another twenty-two people were arrested in the
Seattle area on September 6, 2006. In connection with those arrests,
agents seized an indoor marijuana grow with more than 450 plants, 1100
tablets of MDMA, some cocaine and more than $3.2 million dollars in
cash and assets. Seventeen of the suspects face federal charges in
Seattle for conspiracy to distribute marijuana and MDMA. According
to the charging documents, the conspirators were heard on a court authorized
wiretap brokering deals involving the sale of marijuana and MDMA. One
of the defendants, Hung Anh Le, was also charged with being a felon
in possession of a firearm, which could result in an enhanced sentence.
This investigation was dubbed "This Buds Pho You" because
targets of this investigation would refer to marijuana as "Pho," a
type of Vietnamese soup.
The other investigation
that is linked to “Frogger” and “This Buds Pho You” was
a Tacoma investigation which also culminated on September 6, 2006.
An additional 3 individuals were arrested and 45,000 tablets of MDMA,
one (1) kilogram of cocaine, and an indoor marijuana grow operation
with 40 plants were seized. A criminal complaint filed in Tacoma shows
that Anousack Sayasack and Phophinh Sayasack are charged in a six count
indictment with Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana, Possession of MDMA
with Intent to Distribute, Maintaining a Drug-Involved Residence and
various firearms violations.
DEA Special Agent
in Charge, Rodney Benson, said, "In this region, DEA routinely
sees the commingling of BC bud marijuana, cocaine, Ecstacy and other
illicit drug shipments by drug traffickers and this activity shows
that the greed of these narcotics smugglers has no limits. As was the
case in these investigations, DEA is not only committed to arresting
all members of these drug trafficking groups but is also aggressively
targeting and seizing the assets illegally accumulated by these organizations.
This two-pronged approach ensures that their illicit business is totally
destroyed."
An indictment contains
allegations that have not yet been proven at trial beyond a reasonable
doubt.
This was an Organized
Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, providing
supplemental federal funding to the federal and state agencies involved.
The cases were investigated by DEA and the Seattle Police Department,
the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Washington
State Patrol, Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, Tacoma Police Department,
Puyallup Police Department, Bonney Lake Police Department, Auburn Police
Department, Department of Corrections, and the King Country Sheriff’s
Office.
The cases are being
prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Doug Whalley, Lisca
Borichewski and Doug Hill.
For additional information
please contact Jeffrey Eig, Public Information Officer for DEA at (206)
553-1411, or Emily Langlie, Public Information Officer for the United
States Attorney’s Office at (206) 553-4110. For an opportunity
to photograph some of the Ecstacy seized and or interview DEA Special
Agent in Charge Rodney Benson about the investigation, call DEA Special
Agent Jeffrey Eig at 206-553-1411. |