3 Charged in Alleged Drug Gang Plot

In a move authorities say has slowed the flow of a dangerous designer drug into Orange County, three alleged top lieutenants in an organized crime group that dominates the local trade in Ecstasy were charged Friday in what officials said was a plot to murder a leader of their own organization and other crimes.

Two of the three--including the intended target’s girlfriend--tried to hire a hit man to kill Westminster businessman Viet Quoc “Joe� Tran, according to court documents. In a separate case, a third suspect is accused of mailing a gun silencer from Houston to a California man involved in the alleged plot.

Authorities said all three are high-ranking members of a syndicate called “the Organization.� The group allegedly specializes in the sale of drugs and firearms smuggled from Canada to California and elsewhere in the United States.

Prosecutors say the group has cornered as much as 90% of the county’s Ecstasy market. But they believe the arrests have crippled the local operation, meaning less Ecstasy is available on the street.

“The arrests . . . effectively dismantled what we believe is the largest Ecstasy distribution ring in Orange County today,� Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas said. The crackdown, he added, “will significantly disrupt the sales of narcotics from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to Orange County as far east as Houston, Texas, and as far south as Florida for some time to come.�

In recent years, demand for Ecstasy has surged, and the designer drug is fast becoming one of the most popular illicit drugs among young people, said Mike Clesceri, assistant chief of investigations for the Orange County district attorney. It’s perhaps most favored at so-called rave dance parties.

The arrests follow six months of undercover work by a local task force of gang investigators who infiltrated the group. Officials said investigators were forced to move against the suspects before the end of the probe when they learned of the plot to kill Tran.

Two suspects, Truong Duy Nguyen and Tran’s girlfriend, Lan My Trieu, face charges of conspiracy to commit murder. The third, Loc Huu Bui, was charged with aiding and abetting the possession of a silencer.

But prosecutors said they are still building drug cases against the three and against other alleged members of the group, including its Portland, Ore.-based kingpin.

At a court hearing Friday afternoon, attorneys for the three suspects declined to comment on the charges. Orange County Judge James A. Stotler set bail at $500,000 for Nguyen and Trieu and $50,000 for Bui, 28. The three are scheduled to be arraigned later this month.

Officials said the alleged conspiracy to kill Tran developed after other members of his group decided to take over what agents said is his substantial Ecstasy sales network. The Organization operates in Orange County and Houston, distributing at least 40,000 tablets a month in each region, Rackauckas said.

Investigators said they have insufficient evidence to arrest Tran on drug charges. But authorities are continuing to monitor the businessman’s activities.

In July, investigators arrested another alleged leader of the group near Indio and seized 13,000 Ecstasy tablets. The pills were allegedly being transported from Orange County to Houston.

In June, Nguyen, 28, allegedly approached a law enforcement “operative� who was posing as a hit man. Nguyen offered him $35,000 man to kill the businessman, according to court documents filed by prosecutors. Nguyen allegedly told the operative, “I will give an address and picture so you can identify him.�

Two days later, Nguyen told a second operative that Tran’s 37-year-old girlfriend was involved in the plot, the documents said. Nguyen allegedly said Trieu “wants to split the profits to [kill] him,� and added that she “put the money out to kill him.�