Five men have been indicted in a scheme to rob what they thought was a stash house full of cocaine but instead was part of a sting setup. The heavily armed group was arrested just moments before they were prepared to storm the drug house, according to charging documents filed in federal court in Alexandria.
The eight-page affidavit, reveals details of the dangerous world of drug and black market trafficking.
According to the document, Bureau of Alcohol,Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents and Northern Virginia law enforcement officials were targeting a organization that moved and sold marijuana and contraband cigarettes. Undercover agents identified a man who went by the name “Tommy” as its leader and started to make plans to buy and sell large amounts of high-quality pot for about $4,400 per pound.
The Washington Examiner is not revealing Tommy’s true identity because he has not been charged.
Around September and October, Tommy began talking to undercover officers posing as drug dealers about robbing a narcotics “stash house,” agents said. Tommy assured the men that he and his crew “are professionals, and that they committed these types of robberies in the past,” the affidavit states. The meetings were recorded.
One of the undercover agents said he was a courier and knew of a place where he picked up loads of cocaine to move to other places.
Tommy said he had ballistic vests and FBI raid jackets and hats, and his people could pose as law enforcement officers during the robbery. He said he had three “crews” that could do the job: one of “black men” from Philadelphia; another group that worked at the Asian market, the Eden Center, in Falls Church; and his “personal” crew who he didn’t want to use unless absolutely necessary, the affidavit said.
He asked about the layout of the targeted location and whether it had metal or wooden doors at the entrance, then provided the undercover agents with a cell phone to use while speaking about the robbery of the “drug house.”
After several more meetings, on Oct. 28, the groups met at a gas station in Fairfax County, and the undercover officer took the crew to a garage to be used in the heist. Crew members moved firearms into the vehicle and passed out robber gloves and zip ties.
The undercover agents asked the crew one final time if they were ready. That’s when the law enforcement officers swooped in.
Arrested were Khem Roeutanck Un, Saraeven B. Min, Jan Stevens, Marc Johnson and James D. McCalister.
