A group of men from Orange and Los Angeles counties faces federal charges after they allegedly concealed hundreds of pounds of cocaine and methamphetamine in products like instant noodle packets and subwoofers and trafficked the drugs to Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
Authorities on Thursday arrested Hoang Xuan Le, 42, of Tustin, and Tri Cao Buinguyen, 38, of Garden Grove, on charges of conspiracy to export controlled substances, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and distribution of methamphetamine.
Le is also known as “Big Bro,” “Blue” or “Knockout,” and Buinguyen goes by “Bro” and “Mango,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.
Additionally, two men from Los Angeles County, Trung Buinguyen, 40, of Lakewood, and Narongsak Champy, 28, of Long Beach, face the two conspiracy charges and are currently sought by authorities.
From at least 2017 to 2022, the group is accused of using “phones equipped with military-grade encryption software and encrypted messaging applications, particularly Signal, to coordinate the export of drugs from the United States,” prosecutors said.
Those exports involved the use of “fictitious names, businesses, and email accounts to communicate with intermediaries, including vendors, freight forwarders, shipping companies, customs brokers, and customs officials in the United States and foreign countries, to fraudulently disguise the drugs as legitimate commercial products,” the release added.
For example, packets of instant noodles and mushroom seasoning sent to Australia in 2018 included 860 pounds of meth, while a shipment of purported garlic season that same year was actually about 250 pounds of meth and more than 220 pounds of cocaine, authorities said.
“As part of this case, law enforcement seized a total of 755 kilograms (1,664 pounds) of methamphetamine and more than 100 kilograms of cocaine. Law enforcement estimates that the value of the drugs seized exceeds $65 million and ranges up to $160 million,” the release said.
If convicted of all charges, the men could face life in federal prison.