News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 12, 2004

Boston Man and Canadian Sentenced on Federal Drug Charges

Boston, MA... A Boston man was sentenced today in federal court for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute, and distributing, in excess of 20,000 tablets of ecstasy with an approximate street value of $400,000. Earlier this week his co-defendant, a Canadian man, was also sentenced for his role in the conspiracy.

Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in New England, and United States Attorney Michael Sullivan announced today that YEK DOUG WONG, age 41, of 25 Mission Park Drive, Boston, Massachusetts, was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Reginald C. Lindsay to 87 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. WONG pleaded guilty on October 14, 2003, to a Superseding Indictment charging him with possessing with intent to distribute, and distributing, in excess of 20,000 tablets of ecstasy and methamphetamine. Heng-Ning Wu, age 31, a Canadian citizen, also pleaded guilty on October 14, 2003 to charges relating to his role in the conspiracy and was sentenced by Judge Lindsay on February 9, 2004, to 5 years and 10 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release.

At the earlier plea hearing, the prosecutor told the Court that, had the case proceeded to trial, the evidence would have proven that WONG and his Wu were involved in the distribution of ecstasy and methamphetamine. In September 2002, WONG advised a cooperating witness that he had access to a large amount of ecstasy from Toronto, Canada. WONG told this individual that his source of supply in Toronto, Canada would only deal in 5,000 to 10,000 tablets of ecstasy at a time and that he was charging between $5.00 and $6.00 per hit of ecstasy depending on the quality and amount purchased. In January of 2003, WONG met with the cooperating witness at The 99 Restaurant in Quincy, Massachusetts and provided him with a free sample of ecstasy. Further arrangements were made for WONG to deliver 100 tablets of ecstasy to the cooperating witness and on March 14, 2003 WONG provided the cooperating witness with 100 small pink tablets stamped with a happy face in exchange for $550. Later that month, WONG advised the cooperating witness that 20,000 tablets of ecstasy would be in the Boston area on Monday, March 24, 2003 between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. and that the ecstasy was coming via courier from Canada to Boston. On March 25, 2002, WONG and Wu met with the cooperating witness to deliver the ecstasy. Both WONG and Wu were immediately placed under arrest. Inside of the vehicle driven by Wu were five packages containing numerous pink pills stamped with happy faces on them. The gross weight of the tablets was approximately 5,128 grams. Further testing of the tablets by the DEA Laboratory in New York City proved positive for MDMA and methamphetamine. The street value of the 20,000 tablets of ecstasy was estimated at approximately $400,000.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.