Drug sting snares 5,000

By Tony Gordon

Daily Herald Legal Affairs Writer
March 26, 2004

Two men are charged with attempting the largest-ever single sale of Ecstasy to undercover Lake County police.

Assistant State's Attorney Daniel Shanes said Hieu Van La, 29, of Skokie and Virasack Z. Phoxay, 26, of Chicago were arrested Wednesday afternoon by agents of the Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group.

Shanes said La, of 9433 Kolmar Ave., agreed to sell 5,000 pills of the powerful hallucinogen to a Metropolitan Enforcement Group agent for $40,000.

"These drugs have a street value of at least $200,000," Shanes said. "We consider it very fortunate that law enforcement was able to keep this noxious poison out of the hands of potential consumers."

The deal was set for 5:30 p.m. in a parking lot at Lake-Cook and Waukegan roads in Deerfield, Shanes said. Metropolitan Enforcement Group agents in unmarked cars set up surveillance on the lot about 30 minutes before the scheduled buy.

Police observed Phoxay, of 5041 N. Lowell Ave., as he arrived and drove slowly around the lot before pulling into a parking space.

La then arrived, Shanes said, parked his car and walked to the car containing the undercover officer.

When La handed the agent the package containing the club drug pills, Shanes said, that officer activated a radio signal to alert the other officers to make the arrests.

The undercover officer's car and the vehicle Phoxay was in were surrounded by police, and both men were taken into custody without incident.

The pair had been under investigation for about two months, Shanes said.

At a hearing Thursday, Associate Judge Victoria Martin set bond for La at $5 million and ordered Phoxay held on $500,000 bond.

She scheduled another court appearance for Phoxay on Tuesday, and said La should return to court April 2. Both face a mandatory prison sentence of 15 to 60 years if convicted.

Before Wednesday's arrests, the previous largest attempted Ecstasy transaction in the county was in July 2003 when two men were charged with attempting to sell 1,000 doses of the drug in Buffalo Grove.

Igor Naydenov, 28, and Gennady Shklyar, 29, of 1504 E. Jane Ave., Arlington Heights, have pleaded innocent to delivery of a controlled substance and are awaiting trial.