23 Alleged Members Of Violent Asian Gang Arrested
Men Believed To Be Part Of Viet Pride Gangsters
POSTED: 2:40 pm MDT June 18,
2003
UPDATED: 8:06 pm MDT June 18,
2003
DENVER -- Attempted murder, intimidation, assault, ransacking homes, selling drugs and stealing cars are just some of the accusations leveled against 23 alleged members of an Asian gang known as Viet Pride Gangsters or VPG.
The Colorado attorney general announced Wednesday that 23 people are now in custody and face almost 100 felony charges.
"This is a very violent gang," said Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar.Seventeen suspects were arrested in the pre-dawn hours on Wednesday and are being held at the Jefferson County Jail. Six men were already in custody, and are suspected of conducting and directing some of the criminal activity from prison.According to the statewide grand jury indictment, the notorious gang started in the early 1990s in Denver, with its original roots in California. It soon expanded its operations between August 1995 and December 2002 to Jefferson, Arapahoe, Douglas, Chaffee and Adams counties, the indictment said.The 22 adults and one teen are accused of taking part in criminal activities that were not only designed to recruit and retain gang membership, but also to provide financial benefit to both individual members and to the group in general.
Prosecutors also believe that the gang targeted Asian homes for burglaries and targeted a rival gang known as Asian Pride or AP for retaliation. VPG advertised its gang through traditional symbols, such as tattoos, markings, graffiti, and hand gestures, investigators said.More than 20 law enforcement agencies in the state were involved in or had a connection to the two-year investigation leading up to the arrests. All of the suspects, except one, are of Vietnamese descent."Infiltrating it with undercover or informants was very difficult. It's a very close cultural environment," said Capt. Jim Welton with the Metro Gang Task Force.The suspects were indicted on June 13, but officials had to wait until all of the suspects were in custody before they made the announcement.The suspects have been identified as:
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Prosecutors also believe that the gang targeted Asian homes for burglaries and targeted a rival gang known as Asian Pride or AP for retaliation. VPG advertised its gang through traditional symbols, such as tattoos, markings, graffiti, and hand gestures, investigators said.More than 20 law enforcement agencies in the state were involved in or had a connection to the two-year investigation leading up to the arrests. All of the suspects, except one, are of Vietnamese descent."Infiltrating it with undercover or informants was very difficult. It's a very close cultural environment," said Capt. Jim Welton with the Metro Gang Task Force.The suspects were indicted on June 13, but officials had to wait until all of the suspects were in custody before they made the announcement.The suspects have been identified as: - Duc Dang, 18
Phuc Huynh, aka "Phuc Aurora," 24
Tien Pham, aka "Tien Mop," 23
Thanh Do, aka "Gulo," a.k.a. "Culo," 22
Tien Nguyen, aka "Archie," 21
Quoc Ho, aka "Toothless," 25
John Swanson, aka "White Boy," 20
Choi Lau, aka "Joey" or "Joe Mop," 25
Trinh Nguyen, 19
Tan Pham, aka "Tan Mop," 20
David Le, 19
Unidentified Juvenile, 17
Dung Nguyen, 20
Thang Van Bui, 19
Trang Than, aka "Tom," 21
Luyen Van Le, aka "John," 20
Thien An Ngoc, aka "An Le," 23
Phong Nguyen, aka "Innocent," 24
David Pham, 26
Hoang Dang, aka "Wang," 22
Macdan Vo, 21
Duy Nguyen, 22
Jesse Nguyen, 21
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