Pubdate: Sat, 07 Dec 2002 Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) Copyright: 2002 Calgary Herald Contact: http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66 Author: Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) COCAINE DEALER SENTENCED TO 8 1/2 YEARS A high-level Calgary drug dealer has landed in prison after pleading guilty Friday to conspiracy to traffic an estimated $1 million to $3 million in cocaine. Court of Queen's Bench Justice Sandy Park handed Tuyen Minh Dang an 81/2-year federal prison sentence after accepting a joint submission by Crown prosecutor Karen Molle and defence lawyer Tim Foster. "This gentleman, Mr. Dang, is a highly sophisticated commercial drug trafficker," said Park. "This is an extremely serious offence, because of the planning and deliberation and scheme over an extended period of time. Mr. Dang is heavily involved, without regard for the misery and suffering of drug addicts." The judge also noted the offender was involved in the manufacturing of crack cocaine, a highly addictive form of the drug, at his home on Ulster Rd. N.W. Park credited Dang, 25, with double time for the six months he had spent in pre-trial custody, bringing his time remaining down to 71/2 years, and noted the guilty plea saved the courts a great deal of time and money. The sentence is similar to the eight years Park gave Minh Le, another top-level trafficker, who pleaded guilty to the same charge last August. "Le and Dang are at the upper echelon of drug traffic dealers in Calgary," Molle told the judge. "As far as Calgary police are concerned, this is at the top level they have ever dealt with." The court also confiscated more than $47,000 cash and a 1991 Acura NSX seized as proceeds of crime from Dang's home. He was arrested on May 22, following an exhaustive eight-month joint investigation between Calgary RCMP, Calgary police and the Organized Crime Agency of British Columbia. The investigation revealed he had received 33 deliveries of a minimum one kilogram of cocaine each from two Vancouver men between Sept. 21 and May 22. Some deliveries included as much as three kilograms. Dang paid between $36,500 and $40,000 per kilogram, then sold it to others who peddled it at the street level for $1,000 to $1,350 per ounce. Foster said his client is "like a wholesaler" and admitted he would have netted a minimum $200,000 profit from the amount he purchased during the investigation period. Dang is a native of Vietnam who came to Canada in 1991 and is a landed immigrant. He has a previous conviction for drug trafficking in 1997, for which he received a sentence of two years less a day. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D