A 43-year-old man from Orange County was sentenced to nearly 18 years in prison for his role as the leader of an international drug smuggling ring that trafficked hundreds of pounds of meth to countries in the South Pacific, federal officials announced Monday.
In a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice, prosecutors said Hoang Xuan Le, a resident of Tustin known as “Big Bro,” and a 40-year-old Tri Buinguyen Garden Grove known as “Bro,” arranged for the export of bulk quantities of methamphetamine by air cargo and ocean freight from the U.S. to members of a drug trafficking organization in Australia and Papua New Guinea between July 2020 and Oct. 2021.
The men would conceal the drugs in a variety of commercial products, including packets of instant noodles, mushroom and garlic seasoning and custom metal boxes while fabricating what was in the shipments on custom documents and manifests.
Using military-grade encryption software and encrypted messaging apps, particularly Signal, the Narcos communicated with international co-conspirators and coordinated the shipments of goods out of the U.S.
“They also used 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,” prosecutors said.
Law enforcement officials intercepted two of these shipments, one in Aug. 2020 with 66 pounds of meth headed to Australia in metal boxes and another a year later of nearly 330 pounds of meth hidden in food storage buckets.
In February, Buinguyen was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison and fined $50,000 for his part in the conspiracy.
Le, who pleaded guilty in Nov. 2024 to one count of conspiracy to export controlled substances, was sentenced to 210 months in federal prison for his role in leading the operation.
“On top of the sophistication and reach of this drug trafficking organization, [Le] played a critical leadership role in it,” prosecutors said. “[Le] oversaw international drug shipments, asked for updates on the shipments’ status and location, communicated with co-conspirators abroad, and arranged for drug shipments through air cargo and ocean freight. This was a wide-ranging, lucrative, and sophisticated international narcotics conspiracy, and [Le] was its leader in the United States.”
Additionally, two men from Los Angeles County, Trung Buinguyen, 41, of Lakewood, and Narongsak Champy, 29, of Long Beach, face the two conspiracy charges and are currently sought by authorities.
