LOS ANGELES – A Canadian man was sentenced today to 72 months in federal prison for distributing hundreds of pounds of cocaine out of stash houses in the San Gabriel Valley community of Alhambra.
Sam Nang Bou, 41, of Edmonton, Canada, was sentenced by United States District Judge Percy Anderson.
Bou pleaded guilty in December 2022 to one count of distribution of cocaine.
In June 2022, Bou operated two stash houses in Alhambra in which he used to store and prepare bulk quantities of narcotics for distribution and eventual importation into Canada. On June 28, 2022, Bou knowingly and intentionally transported approximately 104.6 kilograms (230.6 pounds) of cocaine from one of the Alhambra stash houses to a location in Hesperia.
While in Hesperia, Bou handed over four boxes containing the cocaine to a truck driver for exportation into Canada.
Bou engaged in eight other similar distributions of cocaine and methamphetamine from September 2021 to September 2022. In total, for these eight additional distributions, Bou distributed approximately 341 kilograms (752 pounds) of cocaine and approximately 729.7 kilograms (1,608.7 pounds) of methamphetamine.
In September 2022, Bou operated and controlled a Dodge Caravan with two hidden trap compartments that he used to store bulk quantities of drugs. He also controlled a storage unit in Alhambra, which he rented using an alias. On September 1, 2022, Bou drove the vehicle into the storage unit and locked the unit with the vehicle inside of it.
Inside of the Dodge Caravan’s two hidden trap compartments, Bou possessed approximately 47.3 kilograms (104.3 pounds) of cocaine and 325 grams of methamphetamine.
At one of the Alhambra stash houses, Bou possessed storage tubs, dozens of rolls of tape, numerous duffle bags and boxes, vacuum sealed bags, heat sealers, boxes of dryer sheets, scales, and a money counter. He also had industrial-size containers of various chemicals used to clean the drugs, coveralls, various sets of gloves, numerous bowls and containers, several masks, and a respirator.
The FBI and the Los Angeles HIDTA Task Force investigated this case. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Los Angeles Violent Transnational Organized Crime Task Force, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the California Highway Patrol, the Barstow Police Department, the Mohave Area General Narcotics Enforcement Team, and the Kern County Sheriff’s Office provided substantial assistance in this matter.
The case against Bou is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
Assistant United States Attorney Brittney M. Harris of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section prosecuted this case.
