Burnaby man wanted for money laundering for cross-border drug gang
Cong Dinh is wanted by police in Canada for money laundering
A Canada-wide warrant has been issued for a Burnaby man facing money laundering charges after a cross-border investigation into a Vietnamese organized crime group trafficking cocaine and ecstasy across North America.
Cong Dinh, 26, is believed to have fled B.C. for Vietnam after his Goring Street home was raided by the RCMP in connection with the joint U.S.-Canada investigation.
RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen said that Dinh has been charged with five counts of laundering the proceeds of crime and one count of possession of the proceeds of crime.
Court records indicate the charges were laid on July 15, 2013 and relate to transactions between Nov. 2009 and July 2010.
Thiessen said the charges took time to be laid because the case “was a major in-depth international investigation.”
And he said it is possibly that Dinh, who is a Canadian citizen and has family in Metro Vancouver, has returned to B.C. and is in hiding.
“We are hopeful that someone in the Lower Mainland knows of his whereabouts ,” Thiessen said.
The complex investigation involved the RCMP Federal Serious Organized Crime working with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
U.S. court documents show that undercover police on both sides of the border infiltrated the drug gang headed by California resident Minh Huu Nguyen who unwittingly used the agents to help move $2.75 million in drug profits between Vancouver and Orange County.
Nguyen, also 26, pleaded guilty in California to money laundering and drug trafficking in connection with the same investigation. He scheduled to be sentenced in November.
Dinh is described in the court documents as working for Nguyen, who boasted on wiretaps about having the best prices for cocaine, “B.C. bud” and ecstasy.
Nguyen “arranged for the transfer of drug trafficking proceeds from Vancouver, British Columbia to Orange County California through a hawala funds transfer (an alternative remittance system which transfers money without the physical or electronic transfer of funds,)” the U.S. indictment said.
Dinh provided an undercover RCMP operator hundreds of thousands Canadian for each transaction, which would be converted to U.S. funds and dropped off at public places like Starbucks and McDonalds in California.
The Mounties said the case highlighted cross-border cooperation and disrupted the flow of drug profits.
“The RCMP’s Federal Serious Organized Crime Section will continue to work with our local, national and international partners targeting Canada’s highest level organized crime groups,” RCMP Chief Superintendent Kevin deBruyckere said.
“This is an excellent demonstration of the RCMP collaborating with major international partners to achieve a significant dismantling and disruption of organized crime in Canada.”
Anyone with information about Dinh’s whereabouts is asked to contact police or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477)
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