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.
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