Three Oak Creek Residents Charged in Federal Drug, Gambling Probe

updated 1:55 p.m.

Three Oak Creek residents were arrested as part of a wide-ranging federal investigation into an international gambling and drug ring.

Vu Q. Nguyen, 28, and Tu C. Ly, 25, were charged with conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute in excess of 1,000 kilograms of marijuana.

Those two were also charged with operating an illegal gambling business, as was Binh J. Nguyen, 38.

The trio were part of a group of 24 people who face federal charges in connection with the operation. U.S. Attorney James L. Santelle said Thursday that a simple tip led to the year-long investigation, which culminated May 24 with more than 150 law enforcement officers from multiple state and local agencies executing search warrants and arresting 23 people in southeastern Wisconsin, northern Illinois, Los Angeles and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

One person, from Los Angeles, is still at large.

The investigation discovered more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana were being sent by courier from Seattle and British Columbia to the Midwest, and that couriers were used to take gambling proceeds back to Seattle, according to officials.

The defendants are accused of managing a sophisticated sports betting operation that generated tens of thousands of dollars each week. More than 35 people have been federally indicted in connection with the related investigations.

Officials have seized about $1.3 million, 25 pounds of marijuana, marijuana packaging materials, drug and gambling ledgers, two firearms, a bulletproof vest, jewelry worth more than $250,000 and vehicles worth more than $250,000.

This was a “much more high-tech” operation than what they’ve seen before, Santelle said, using phone calls and text messages to place and take bets on national and local sports teams.

Santelle called the operation “fairly sophisticated.” Couriers shuttled drugs from Seattle and British Columbia to the Midwest, he said, and the cash from gambling proceeds back the other way.

He deferred to Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Sanders to give specifics about the gambling enterprise. The details have not been included in any public documents at this point, but have been revealed to some extent in court, Santelle said.

Individuals in the gambling enterprise were divided into cells, Sanders said. People in Seattle texted odds out to other contacts, who would then forward them down the line. That process took about 10 minutes, he said.

Within 30 minutes, Sanders said, calls would go back up the chain with bets coming in from gamblers.

Vu Nguyen, Sanders said, would then “communicate with (people in) Chicago and go over wins and losses.”

Santelle declined to share information about the people placing the bets, but said the operation was bringing in tens of thousands of dollars each week. The investigation, he said, is not closed.

“It could lead to future charges or investigative work,” he said. “The message should be clear to anyone out there. All these people are out there to identify, investigate and prosecute these cases.”

The drug charges carry a sentence 10 years to life in prison, up to $10 million fine and five years to life on supervised release.

The illegal gambling business charge could result in five years prison, $250,000 fine and up to three years supervised release.