By Gangsters Inc. Editors
The leader of One Family Clique (OFC), a Lowell-based gang, pleaded guilty Thursday, September 7, to conspiring with fellow OFC gang members to traffic wholesale quantities of cocaine, and to launder millions of dollars in drug proceeds through casinos in Canada.
36-year-old Virak Prum, who goes by the nicknames “Polo,” “Capo,” and “Lips,” pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and one count of money laundering conspiracy. His sentencing is scheduled for December 14, 2023.
Spike in shootings and gang violence
In August 2018, law enforcement began investigating OFC in response to a dramatic spike in shootings and gang violence in Lowell. OFC is an alliance between several gangs in and around Lowell with ties to gangs in California and other states. In 2018 and 2019, at least 12 incidents of gunfire in the Lowell area are alleged to be attributable to gang-motivated hostilities between OCF and its rivals.
Since at least 2019, Prum and his co-conspirators used the U.S. Postal Service to receive shipments of illegal narcotics, and, in return, to ship cash proceeds to the sources of supply. Members of the conspiracy maintained stash houses in Lowell, which also served as venues for gang meetings and other events furthering the gang’s illegal activities. Over the course of the investigation, agents seized or purchased approximately 12 kilograms of methamphetamine, 2.4 kilograms of cocaine, 2.1 kilograms of MDMA, 513 grams of heroin, and 169 grams of Fentanyl; $177,591 in cash; and seven firearms.
In May 2021, Prum led a money laundering operation in which he and his co-conspirators provided “protection” to a shipment from Europe that purportedly contained 8 million Euros in drug proceeds from black tar heroin sales. Specifically, Prum and his co-conspirators helped pack a shipment of money into a truck and escorted it from New York to New Hampshire.
Prum was charged with 14 others in June 2021. He is the final defendant in custody to plead guilty in the case. One defendant remains a fugitive.
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