Jefferson Parish Man Pleads Guilty to Violations of the Federal Controlled Substances and Interstate Travel in Aid of Racketeering Acts

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – VINH NGUYEN, age 39, of Gretna,  pled guilty on November 29, 2023 to one (1) count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a quantity of marijuana, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C), and 846, and eight (8) counts of interstate travel in aid of racketeering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1952(a)(3), announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.

According to court documents, in July 2019, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Agents learned that NGUYEN, and others, participated in a drug and money trafficking network that spanned from California to Louisiana.  Text messages confirmed that NGUYEN worked with a supplier in California, who negotiated the cost and strains of marijuana with growers in San Francisco for NGUYEN.  NGUYEN paid for the marijuana by having other co-conspirators fly the cash to the supplier in San Francisco.  Another co-conspirator owned a shipping company that shipped the marijuana from San Francisco to a warehouse in Kenner.  Yet another co-conspirator would pick up the marijuana shipments from the Kenner warehouse and deliver them to various unknown locations in the New Orleans area and other cities throughout the country. 

This prosecution is part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).  OCDETF is a joint federal, state, and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets. 

This case was investigated by the Office of Homeland Security Investigations and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney André Jones of the Narcotics Unit.