Phoumano Duangtavilay, Marijuana Trafficking, New York 2023

Twelve defendants, led by Phoumano Duangtavilay, 50, and Khonesavanh Vongxay, 62, have been arrested and charged in a sprawling marijuana trafficking conspiracy that flooded Rochester, N.Y. with over 130 pounds of pot shipped from California. The criminal complaint alleges a decade-long operation that used the U.S. mail to funnel drugs into the city while shipping back thousands in structured money orders to evade detection—netting a minimum five-year mandatory sentence and exposing a $5 million network.

Authorities say since 2014, Duangtavilay and Vongxay ran a tightly organized distribution ring, relying on co-conspirators including Kongchay Kongthong, 50; Manivone Phommaviseth, 56; James Vongxay, 20; Chandy Vongxay, 29; Keith Surivan, 40; Phetnalay Douangtavilay, 47; Phou Daoreuang, 33; Danisha Floyd, 26; Jerimiah Torres, 20; and Kongdeuane Vongxay, 39. These individuals allegedly handled local sales, transported narcotics, and laundered profits through deliberate, sub-reporting threshold purchases of money orders—a tactic designed to avoid federal scrutiny.

Federal agents executed search warrants across nine Rochester locations, intercepting packages laced with marijuana and stacks of cash-bound money orders. The seizures included more than $180,000 in financial instruments, four vehicles used to move drugs, and a staggering 1,061 parcels sent via U.S. Postal Service from August 2015 to January 2018—all traced to addresses or individuals tied to the conspiracy. The operation moved like a shadow logistics network, exploiting postal channels to create a steady drip of narcotics into city streets.

“This drug organization, like others we are seeing with increasing frequency, sought to flood the market through a steady drip, drip, drip of relatively small packages of drugs being shipped into our community,” said U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. “Today, that spigot finally got turned-off. Whether it’s marijuana or deadly fentanyl, this Office, together with our partners in law enforcement, will do all that we can to stem the flow of illegal substances into our area.”

Acting Inspector-in-Charge Raymond Moss of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division, emphasized that using the mail for drug trafficking is a direct assault on public safety. “These arrests should give fair warning that using the U.S. Mail to facilitate crimes like these will not be tolerated. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service will continue to work diligently to rid the U.S. Mail of illegal drugs and their proceeds,” Moss stated, underscoring the agency’s commitment to targeting delivery-based narcotics pipelines.

State Police Superintendent George P. Beach II hailed the takedown as a win of interagency muscle and persistence. “The suppliers of illegal drugs are exploiting every channel they can to infiltrate our communities. By using our postal service, these defendants were able to ship drugs to our state and then distribute on our streets. These are crimes that will not be tolerated.” Ten of the 12 defendants have already appeared before a U.S. Magistrate, with prosecutors vowing to pursue the full weight of the law—40 years in prison and $5 million in fines for each top defendant. The case continues to unfold as investigators trace financial web remnants across state lines.

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