LIKE CHEN, age 36, pled guilty on April 1 before United States District Judge Greg G. Guidry to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a mixture and substance containing one hundred kilograms or more of marijuana, according to an April 7 announcement by U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle.
The case highlights ongoing efforts by federal authorities to address large-scale drug trafficking operations that cross state lines and involve multiple individuals working together.
Court documents show that Drug Enforcement Administration special agents observed Yilei Zhou picking up Hanjie Wu, a known marijuana distributor, from an airport in Houston, Texas before traveling with others through various locations in Texas and Louisiana. On April 15, Wei Bin Chen and LIKE CHEN retrieved large trash bags from a storage unit in Denham Springs, Louisiana before meeting at another facility in Slidell where the bags were loaded into a co-conspirator’s vehicle.
Forrest County Sheriff’s deputies stopped CHEN’s vehicle on Interstate 59 toward Hattiesburg, Mississippi and seized approximately 43.5 kilograms of marijuana after obtaining consent for a search. In a separate stop near Picayune, Mississippi Police Department officers found about 22.7 kilograms of marijuana during another consensual search of a co-conspirator’s vehicle.
Subsequent searches at the Denham Springs residence led officers to arrest another co-conspirator who attempted to flee; they also recovered $1,552 in cash along with packaging materials and equipment commonly used for handling large amounts of currency or drugs. From the storage unit there, officers seized an additional 38.5 kilograms of marijuana.
CHEN faces between five years and forty years imprisonment as well as fines up to $5 million if convicted on the drug conspiracy count; he would also be subject to supervised release following any prison term and must pay a mandatory special assessment fee.
The investigation involved cooperation among several agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration; sheriff’s offices from St. Tammany Parish, Livingston Parish, Forrest County (Mississippi); and police from Picayune (Mississippi). Assistant United States Attorneys André Jones and Nolan D. Paige are prosecuting the case as part of both the Homeland Security Task Force initiative—established by Executive Order 14159—and Operation Take Back America.
