STATE INVESTIGATES CANADIAN POT

Ring Accused Of Bringing Marijuana Into Metro Area

Narcotics investigators from the state Division of Criminal
Investigation and Waukesha County are probing a drug ring believed to
be responsible for distributing large quantities of Canadian-grown
high-grade marijuana.

The probe into the network, which is suspected of bringing the
marijuana across the border and into Wisconsin in trucks, comes at a
time when a federal drug agency says shipments of high-grade
marijuana from Canada are growing.

""Traffickers are increasingly transporting marijuana in private and
commercial vehicles - for example, the trash trucks that frequently
cross from Canada into Michigan - and overland shipments now are
frequently 200 pounds or more," according to the National Drug
Intelligence Center, a division of the U.S. Justice Department.
That's double the size of the previously typical smuggling from
Canada, the department says.

In testimony before a congressional committee last summer, a U.S.
Drug Enforcement official said "alliances between Canadian groups and
Asian organized crime" syndicates have been followed by "a
significant increase in the movement of tractor-trailer borne, ton
quantity shipments."

The amount of Canadian-smuggled marijuana in the United States is
still less than the amount coming from Mexico, but the Canadian
variety has double to triple the potency, Anthony Placido, assistant
administrator for intelligence for the agency, told the House
Committee on Government Reform.

The high-grade marijuana is sold at a premium, $3,500 to $4,000 per
pound compared with the $500 to $750 per pound fetched for marijuana
from Mexico, according to state and federal court records.

According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada's marijuana
production is dominated by organized crime, "most notably Hells
Angels motorcycle gang and Vietnamese criminal groups," the center
said in its 2005 National Drug Threat Assessment.

$1.6 million dealer

One subject of the investigation, according to federal court records,
is believed to have sold 467 pounds of the high-grade marijuana,
commonly referred to as nugs, in a 19-month period that culminated
with his arrest in October. At $3,500 per pound, the Wauwatosa man,
who cooperated with authorities after his arrest, would have
collected more than $1.6 million for the marijuana he distributed.

A spokesman for the state Division of Criminal Investigation said
Monday that the agency would not comment on the investigation.
Waukesha County authorities did not return phone calls, but federal
court records show four men targeted by investigators currently being
prosecuted on large-scale marijuana trafficking charges.

The Wauwatosa man, who has not been charged, was arrested Oct. 27
after selling 5 pounds of marijuana to a confidential informant who
was working with investigators, according to a criminal complaint
filed in federal court.

He told authorities he was "fronted" 10 to 20 pounds of marijuana
every eight to 10 days by Bounchanh B. Kanekeo, 28, of Milwaukee and
Chittana Phimthasack, 29, of Milwaukee, the complaint says.

The Wauwatosa man turned on his suppliers on Nov. 7, according to the
complaint, and wore an audio recording device for a meeting he had
with Kanekeo and Phimthasack concerning $70,000 he owed them.

Investigators, who also installed a hidden camera, listened to and
watched an ensuing hour-long meeting during which the Wauwatosa man
was repeatedly threatened with death for the unpaid debt, according
to the complaint.

"Phimthasack and Kanekeo told (the man) that they were all going to
get killed by Phimthasack's and Kanekeo's supplier," the complaint
says. "Phimthasack and Kanekeo stated that their supplier had shot
several people in the past."

The two left, vowing to have the man killed, but they were arrested
minutes later and have been in federal custody since on marijuana
trafficking charges.

On Dec. 20, Michael V. Nguyen, 24, of Brookfield and Saykhone Lae
Phoneprasith, 28, of Milwaukee were indicted by a federal grand jury
on charges of conspiring to distribute "100 kilograms or more" of marijuana.

A criminal complaint filed after Nguyen was arrested in April says
investigators were tracking a group that was trucking marijuana
across the border in "large hockey-style duffle bags" that each held
"more than 50 pounds" of marijuana.

Nguyen was arrested with three handguns and 5 pounds of marijuana,
according to the complaint. A subsequent search of his home turned up
12 of the hockey-style duffle bags.

Waukesha County network

Meanwhile, several other men are being prosecuted in Waukesha County
Circuit Court on charges that they were distributing nugs.

In Waukesha County Circuit Court, Phoumanivong N. Keophiphath, 26, of
New Berlin is charged with nine counts of conspiracy to deliver
marijuana in a criminal complaint indicating he played a key role in
a high-grade marijuana trafficking network that has been the subject
of a lengthy probe by the Waukesha County Metro Drug Enforcement Unit.

In May, investigators learned from a mid-level dealer that
Keophiphath was the supplier at the top of the network, providing
shipments of up to 13 pounds at a time, according to a criminal complaint.

Earlier this month, Thanongsack L. Sayavong, 27, of Waukesha became
the fifth person charged in that probe when nine trafficking counts
were filed against him.

The complaint indicates that Sayavong held a spot immediately below
Keophiphath in the network, distributing 5 to 13 pounds of high-grade
marijuana per week to mid-level dealers after receiving it from Keophiphath.