Operation Setting Sun Results in San Diego Indictment of 15 Members of Two Related Drug Organizations

San Diego, CA—United States Attorney Karen P. Hewitt announced today the unsealing of two separate but related indictments charging 15 individuals, alleged to be members of drug distribution organizations operating in San Diego, California and elsewhere, with narcotics and criminal forfeiture violations.

The indictments were the result of an investigation, named “Operation Setting Sun,” an approximately 24-month long investigation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the San Diego Police Department (SDPD), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Milwaukee, Wisconsin High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) team, and members of the local law enforcement community conducted an investigation led by the San Diego Violent Crimes Task Force - Gang Group (VCTFGG) targeting the criminal activities of an Asian street gang called the Tiny Oriental Crips (TOC). The TOC are an Asian street gang active in the San Diego area whose members are allegedly involved in a multitude of criminal activities, including narcotics distribution.

According to documents unsealed today, Chansamone Phrakousonh directed a Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) that included his immediate family members (brother, sister, mother and father); and Anthony Vang directed a DTO that included his spouse and six associates. The indictment alleges that both DTOs were responsible for the distribution of pound quantities of methamphetamine on the streets of San Diego utilizing their members’ residences and a business to conduct their drug sales.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy D. Coughlin, who is prosecuting the case, defendants Chansamone Phrakousonh and Anthony Vang and their co-defendants were each charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in violation of, Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) & 846. The charge carries a minimum mandatory term of 10 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison. Chansamone Phrakousonh and five of his six co-defendants are also charged in drug distribution counts, all involving methamphetamine, three of which also carry a minimum mandatory term of 10 years in prison and a maximum custodial term of life in prison. Defendant Anthony Vang is also charged in six methamphetamine distribution counts, one of which also carries a minimum mandatory term of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison.

Operation Setting Sun was part of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, which was created to consolidate and utilize all law enforcement resources in this country’s battle against major drug trafficking. United States Attorney Hewitt praised the efforts of the San Diego Violent Crimes Task Force - Gang Group and all the member agencies and law enforcement officials who participated in this OCDETF investigation.

The defendants are expected to be in court on Wednesday, August 19, 2009, before Magistrate Judge

Anthony J. Battaglia to be arraigned on the indictments.

An indictment is not evidence that the defendants committed the crimes charged. The defendants are presumed innocent until the Government meets its burden in court of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.