By GINA BARTON
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)
Copyright 2006 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Six people investigators say are associated with the Laotian Crips street gang have been charged in federal court with selling thousands of pills of ecstasy in and around Milwaukee.
A joint investigation of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Milwaukee Police Department that began in August 2005 resulted in the six arrests, according to court records. David Phorasavong, Viengthong Bounnavong, Viengsavanh Sengsouvanh, Andrew Boriboune, Sarah Manikham and Inthala Vannaraj have been charged with conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, which carries a prison term of 10 years to life upon conviction. All have pleaded not guilty.
According to the affidavit of DEA Special Agent Jeremy Nissen, filed last week in support of a criminal complaint against Vannaraj, the Laotian Crips gang has several subsets in the Milwaukee area, including the 2-6 Crips, the Clayton County Gangsters and the Asian Crips. The investigation into drug dealing reached from Wisconsin into Michigan, Minnesota and Canada.
914 green pills
A bag of 914 green pills left behind at a Red Roof Inn in Kalamazoo, Mich., on Feb. 1 matched those obtained during a controlled buy from Phorasavong, a high-ranking member of the Laotian Crips known as “Butter,” the affidavit says. The room had been rented by Vannaraj, whom authorities believe was Phorasavong’s supplier, according to the affidavit.
Rented car searched
Later that month, two Canadian citizens of Laotian descent, in a car that had been rented in Milwaukee, were stopped by a state trooper between the Minnesota-Wisconsin state line and Minneapolis, the affidavit says.
The two men agreed to let police search the car, and officers found about 5,000 pills (15 pounds) of ecstasy, according to the affidavit. One man’s cell phone contained several telephone numbers associated with Vannaraj, known as “Lah,” the affidavit says.
In April, according to the affidavit, officers who had Vannaraj under surveillance saw him enter Phorasavong’s house, and Vannaraj later was observed at a blackjack table with a large amount of money at Potawatomi Bingo Casino.
Last month, a confidential source admitted obtaining an estimated 100,000 ecstasy pills, at prices ranging from $3 to $5 each, from Vannaraj over a year’s time, the affidavit says.
When he was arrested June 22, Vannaraj said that “he had last provided ecstasy to David Phorasavong in January 2006 (approximately 10,000 pills), and that Phorasavong had been ‘bugging’ him ever since to obtain more ecstasy,” the affidavit says.
Bounnavong, Sengsouvanh and Boriboune are charged with being Phorasavong’s primary distributors, according to an indictment against them.
In addition to ecstasy, the gang has been involved in the distribution of hydroponic marijuana, the affidavit says.