Police make sixth arrest in Las Vegas home invasion plot

By Jackie Valley

Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 | 2:15 p.m.

Authorities have arrested one more person allegedly linked to an organized crime ring that plotted to commit home invasions in Las Vegas, Metro Police said.

The suspect's arrest in Los Angeles comes in the wake of five arrests last month as part of an operation dubbed "Vegas Hold-em" by the newly formed Asian Organized Crime Task Force, a joint federal and local law enforcement partnership.

Lt. Dave Logue of Metro's criminal intelligence section said it's unclear whether the sixth person will be brought to Las Vegas. Police are still searching for a seventh suspect, he said.

The five suspects arrested in January — James Arum Han, 28, Rene Antwan Hypolite, 23, David Chon, 28, Howard Suh, 25, and Kyung Hoon Han, 35 — were formally charged by a federal grand jury Tuesday, according to a criminal indictment. Authorities haven't released the name of the sixth person arrested.

They each face four federal charges: conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in furtherance of extortion and travel in interstate commerce in furtherance of extortion, the criminal indictment states.

Authorities arrested the first five suspects Jan. 22 in the parking lot of the Rio Hotel and Casino after they traveled from Southern California to allegedly rob a home in Las Vegas and obtain a large stash of cocaine.

The arrests capped off a two-month investigation during which Han had been meeting with an FBI informant and expressing his desire to commit home invasions in Las Vegas by bringing crews of his "home boys" to the area, the criminal complaint alleges.

Han allegedly told the informant he was responsible for more than 100 robberies and had access to several drugs, according to the criminal complaint.

"Vegas Hold-em" marks the largest operation executed so far by the task force, which was created in December, officials said.

Federal and local officials have been working together for years fighting organized crime, but an upswing of activity by Asian organized crime groups prompted the formation of the task force, Logue said.

Although most Asian organized crime groups reside in Southern California, officials have noticed more groups in Las Vegas and traveling to Southern Nevada, Logue said.

Those groups' criminal activities run the gamut from home invasions to extortion and drug trafficking, he said.

In addition, as the Sun reported Wednesday, Las Vegas casinos are on the lookout for an Asian group called the "cutters" that is suspected of cheating while playing baccarat.

Logue said the task force is investigating organized crime groups targeting casinos as well, noting that they are known for manipulating slot machines and table games.

"They're very adept at passing counterfeit notes in the casinos," he said.