Tien Loi Pool Hall secret front for major heroin syndicate
An elaborate drug enterprise, where heroin was stashed in recycle bins filled with “fake” bottles and cans, secretly ran inside an Abbotsford billiards club just a 10-minute walk from the Richmond North safe-injecting room.
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An Abbotsford pool hall less than a 10-minute walk from the North Richmond safe-injecting room was a front for a major heroin operation.
Tien Loi Pool Hall was under investigation in August 2018 after police received intelligence the Victoria St venue was home to a “heroin trafficking syndicate”.
According to court documents, the pool hall – licenced in the name of Huynh Trinh – operated as a “tavern-like business” but did “very little legitimate business”.
Police installed cameras and listening devices inside and outside the venue.
Investigators tracked the syndicate’s operation between March 14 and April 10, 2019.
Key player Thuy Dong, cooffender Jackie Tran and other associates were recorded sourcing, topping-up and selling heroin at the venue.
Surveillance also uncovered syndicate players providing “detailed instructions” to customers on how to buy heroin.
Police observed a “frequent visitor” engage with Tran in a street-level drug deal.
The heroin was stashed in recycle bins filled with “fake” bottles and cans that masked various “storage compartments”.
Dong was caught on camera moving “items” from his pants, wrapping the items in duct tape and placing the items in the bin.
He told Tran where the “items” were hidden.
Police raided the pool hall, Dong’s Altona North home, Tran’s Collingwood home and other properties at Collingwood and St Albans on April 10.
Police seized almost $40,000, 149gm of heroin split into 39 compressed rocks, electronic scales and five books with records of drug transactions from the pool hall.
Investigators seized more than 2kg of heroin from Dong’s home.
Dong, 54, was sentenced at the County Court on March 20 to a minimum five years and five months jail after pleading guilty to large commercial drug trafficking.
The court heard Dong was “financially motivated”.
Judge Claire Quin said “general deterrence” was a primary sentencing principle.
“The sentence imposed must denounce your offending and be sufficiently severe to deter others who consider embarking upon such offending due to the lure of large, relatively easy profits which can be derived from the trafficking of illicit drugs,” she said.
Dong – who had spent 345 days in custody – was jailed for a maximum nine years.
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Tran was sentenced at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court last September to 12 months’ jail after pleading guilty to drug trafficking and dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Ms Trinh was sentenced at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in January to a two-year good behaviour bond.
Two other accused are listed for a County Court trial slated to begin January next year.
Tien Loi Pool Hall operated just 700m from the North Richmond safe-injection room in an area dubbed the “heroin capital of Melbourne”.