NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) — A former assistant district attorney who previously worked in Orleans Parish and St. John the Baptist Parish has been arrested on allegations he operated a drug trafficking organization spanning multiple parishes.
Tony Vu Tran was booked into the Orleans Justice Center on charges including possession with intent to distribute marijuana and ecstasy. Court records also accuse Tran of carrying weapons while in possession of illegal drugs and of possessing drug paraphernalia.
According to authorities, investigators seized approximately 202 pounds of marijuana, nearly $35,000 in cash, suspected powdered and pill-form ecstasy, weapons and drug paraphernalia linked to Tran.
Tran most recently worked for the St. John the Baptist Parish District Attorney’s Office, where he had been employed for about two months. District Attorney Bridget Dinvaut said Tran was terminated immediately after she learned of the allegations.
“I’m outraged by the hypocrisy of Mr. Tran,” Dinvaut said, adding that Tran had not played a meaningful role in any cases during his brief tenure and that her office’s integrity remains intact.
Investigators allege Tran worked alongside Bill Vo, Five Vo and Jonathan Nguyen in a narcotics trafficking operation. The task force involved the New Orleans Police Department, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Search warrants were executed at multiple properties in New Orleans East, the Lower Garden District and West End, where authorities recovered large quantities of marijuana, pills, weapons and suspected drug paraphernalia.
Tran is scheduled to appear Thursday afternoon for a bond hearing in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.
