Members of an FBI-led task force Tuesday arrested 18 people named in a series of Los Angeles federal indictments that allege narcotics trafficking and firearms offenses, including the illegal sale of five AR-15-style "ghost guns.''
Operation "Black Phoenix'' resulted in seven indictments that were issued earlier this year by a federal grand jury. The indictments charge a total of 25 defendants, four of whom were already in custody. Authorities are continuing their attempts to arrest the remaining three defendants, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
During the course of the investigation, authorities seized about 28 pounds of methamphetamine, about a quarter-pound of cocaine and crack cocaine, and 16 firearms, prosecutors said.
A half-dozen of the indictments allege at least one transaction involving pound-quantities of methamphetamine. One of the indictments alleges a series of meth sales that include two one-pound deals and four two-pound transactions.
Two indictments allege illegal gun sales. Defendants Dau Quay Duong, 53, and Christopher Nguyen, 47, both of Ontario, are charged with illegal firearm sales for allegedly selling a total of five ghost guns, specifically five AR-15-type rifles with no make, model or serial number.
In another indictment, defendant Jonathan Domingo Go, 47, of Torrance, is charged will illegally selling three firearms -- two .40-caliber pistols and 5.56-caliber assault pistol that is described as a ghost gun with no manufacturing mark and no serial number, federal prosecutors said.
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The indictments allege a variety of charges, including conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute narcotics and substantive narcotics trafficking offenses such as distribution of methamphetamine. If they are convicted, most of the defendants would face mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years in federal prison, and some would face decades in federal prison because of their extensive criminal histories, prosecutors noted.
