LOS ANGELES — An Orange County man was sentenced Monday to more than 17 years behind bars for leading a drug trafficking ring that ran bulk quantities of methamphetamine to Australia and Papua New Guinea concealed in shipments of car parts and instant noodles.
Hoang Xuan Le, 43, also known as “Big Bro,” of Tustin, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner, who ordered him to pay a fine of $50,000 along with the 210-month prison sentence, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Le pleaded guilty in November 2024 in Los Angeles federal court to one count of conspiracy to export controlled substances.
From July 2020 to October 2021, Le and co-defendant Tri Buinguyen, 40, known as “Bro,” of Garden Grove arranged for the export of the drugs via air cargo and ocean freight, falsifying the shipments on manifests and customs documents, federal prosecutors said.
By relying on “military-grade” encryption software and messaging apps to coordinate shipments, the defendants communicated with vendors and customs officials under fake names and email accounts to disguise the drugs as legitimate commercial products, according to federal prosecutors.
In his plea agreement, Le admitted to overseeing at least two shipments of narcotics from the United States to the Indo-Pacific region. In August 2020, he directed the shipment of nearly 66.1 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in metal boxes to Australia. From April 2021 to September 2021, Le directed the shipment to Papua New Guinea of about 330.7 pounds of the drug concealed in food storage buckets. Law enforcement intercepted both shipments.
On Feb. 24, Buinguyen was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison and fined $50,000 for his role in the conspiracy. He pleaded guilty in November 2024 to one count of conspiracy to export controlled substances, admitting his role in the two drug shipments, plus additional shipments of methamphetamine concealed in ready-to-eat meal packets that were delivered to New Zealand and intercepted by law enforcement there, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Co-defendants Trung Buinguyen, 41, of Lakewood, and Narongsak Champy, 29, of Long Beach, were charged with one count of conspiracy to export controlled substances and one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Law enforcement was seeking both defendants.
By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer
CHICAGO — The ping-pong balls have spoken: Cooper Flagg might be headed to Dallas to start his NBA career.
And a fan base that lost Luka Doncic this season might have a new star to cheer for.
The Mavericks won the NBA draft lottery on Monday night, giving them the No. 1 pick in next month’s draft – and the first chance to take Flagg, the freshman who led Duke to the Final Four in his lone college season and the consensus player of the year.
Dallas bucked huge odds to get it done, with only a 1.8% chance to win the lottery coming into Monday. A Mavs team that reached the NBA Finals in 2024, then scorned its fans by trading away Doncic to the Lakers, left Chicago with the biggest prize.
San Antonio – with back-to-back Rookies of the Year in Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle – will pick second, Philadelphia will pick third, and Charlotte will pick fourth.
Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists while leading Duke to the Final Four in his lone college season. He shot 48% from the field, 39% from 3-point range, 84% from the free-throw line and was The Associated Press’ national player of the year.
And he’s had success against NBA players already. Last summer, when the U.S. Olympic team was holding its training camp in Las Vegas in advance of the Paris Games – where the Americans won gold yet again – Flagg was part of the select team brought in to scrimmage against the Olympians.
Flagg, who was 17 years old at the time, more than held his own in those workouts.
Utah will pick fifth, Washington sixth, New Orleans seventh, Brooklyn eighth, Toronto ninth, Houston 10th, Portland 11th, Chicago 12th, Atlanta 13th and San Antonio 14th.
More to come on this story.
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The Crestview League’s battle royal in softball isn’t over yet.
The CIF Southern Section’s new playoff system, which is guided by computer-generated power ratings, wants another game.
Crestview League rivals Pacifica and El Modena have been paired for a first round game in the Division 1 playoffs on Thursday.
The section announced its postseason pairings on Monday.
In an eye-opening example of the possibilities under the new system, two teams that played three times in the Crestview League and were part of a wild, three-way tie for championship will clash in the first round.
El Modena (18-8), which finished No. 11 in the power ratings, will host No. 22 Pacifica (15-11) in one of the marquee games in the 32-team bracket.
Pacifica is the two-time defending Division 1 champion. El Modena won the early-season Dave Kops Tournament of Champions in Bullhead City, Ariz.
“Not optimal for sure playing a team a fourth time (but) that’s the new system,” Pacifica coach Tony Arduino said. “It is what it is. (We’re) going to have to beat great teams in Division 1 to make a run, may as well start in Round 1.”
“We know both teams have been tested and have been playing playoff games the last two weeks,” the coach added.
Under the section’s previous postseason format, the top two playoff entries from a league were placed on opposite sides of the bracket if they were in the same division. The No. 2 and No. 3 entries from a league were separated so they couldn’t meet until the quarterfinals.
“Both were playoff bylaws,” explained Thom Simmons, a section assistant commissioner and spokesperson.
But under the new playoff systems, teams are placed in brackets by their in-season Massey ratings.
El Modena won its Crestview League series against Pacifica 2-1.
The computers don’t know, of course, that Arduino and El Modena coach Bobby Calderon are close friends. They played college baseball together at Chapman and were assistant coaches with Pacifica baseball.
The coaches went to dinner last week and wondered if they were destined to face off in CIF.
“Crazy,” Calderon said. “I think we spoke it into existence.”
“Nothing has been easy for (our team) this year,” the coach added. “We have been tested on and off the field and I believe we have it in us to overcome this next unfortunate situation.”
Cypress (19-9), which also earned a share of the Crestview League title, plays at El Segundo (22-5) in the first round Thursday.
In another league pairing in the first round, Sonora (16-9) plays host to Villa Park (14-14) in a Freeway League matchup in Division 2 on Thursday.
The Raiders, No. 42 in the power ratings, received an at-large berth. They are playing host to third-place and No. 51 Villa Park based on their ranking.
In Division 3, Brea Olinda (18-5) plays host to Yorba Linda (13-12) in all-North Hills League clash Thursday in the first round. Brea Olinda won the league while Yorba Linda took second.
ORANGE LUTHERAN AND ROSARY EARN HIGH SEEDS
Orange Lutheran received the No. 3 seed in Division 1 behind Norco and Etiwanda.
The Lancers (22-5) slipped one spot from their section rating on May 6 after dropping a second straight Trinity League game. They play host to Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks (23-5) on Thursday.
Rosary, the top-ranked team in the county, dropped one spot in the power ratings to the No. 6 seed. The Royals (25-2-1) play host to Bonita (19-9) at Fullerton College on Thursday.
“The whole bracket looks incredibly tough and there will be no time to get comfortable,” Rosary coach Tom Tice said. “If you’re not at the top of your game immediately, you’re going to go home.”
The Royals move to Division 1 after reaching the second round of Division 2 last season. They also qualified from the Pacific Coast League, whose automatic qualifiers (Woodbridge and Irvine) are in Division 3 and 5, respectively.
“We are satisfied that our overall schedule has us ready for the challenge,” said Tice, whose team won the Michelle Carew Classic.
AT-LARGE BIDS
Canyon (19-9) in Division 1, and Santa Margarita (18-9-1) and JSerra (15-13) in Division 2, were the top county teams to receive at-large bids.
Canyon earned the lone at-large berth in Division 1 and a home game against Temescal Canyon (18-5) on Thursday.
JSerra plays host to Gahr (13-12-2) while Santa Margarita plays at Saugus (23-4).
Aliso Niguel (14-13-1), the fourth-place team in the South Coast League, didn’t receive an at-large berth in Division 2. The bids went to JSerra, Sonora, Moorpark (16-5) and Santa Margarita.
Santa Margarita used a power rating of 8.177 to edge Corona Centennial (13-12) at 8.151 for the fourth and final spot.
Aliso Niguel’s power ratings was 8.07.
NOTES
Buena Park’s Mia Gonzalez threw a four-hitter with 13 strikeouts and hit a home run in a 6-2 win against Valencia last week that gave the Coyotes a share of the Golden West League title.
Buena Park (15-8) plays host Patriot (16-8) in a Division 5 first round game on Thursday. …
In a Sunset League playoff for fourth-place and an automatic playoff spot, Edison beat Fountain Valley 6-5 on a walk-off, three-run double by Avea Niumata with two outs in the seventh.
Edison (11-14) plays at Long Beach Poly (16-5) in Division 4 on Thursday. …
Marina (14-13) is seeded No. 4 in Division 3. Tustin (10-5) is the top-seed in Division 8.