Cash, drugs, guns, steroids and rocket launcher seized in San Jose raid

Authorities raided an alleged criminal organization in San Jose last week, arresting four men and recovering drugs, weapons and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Authorities raided an alleged criminal organization in San Jose last week, arresting four men and recovering drugs, weapons and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Photo: San Jose Police Department Photo: San Jose Police Department Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Cash, drugs, guns, steroids and rocket launcher seized in San Jose raid 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

They acted as a computer company operating out of business parks in San Jose and Sunnyvale, authorities said, but instead of selling microprocessors or software, they were shipping drugs across the country to New York, Maryland and Tennessee.

Police detectives from San Jose, along with officers from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, raided the alleged criminal organization’s offices last week and seized more than 800 pounds of marijuana, cocaine, Xanax, ecstasy and liquid steroids, as well as handguns, a rocket launcher and $600,000.

The group’s alleged ringleader, Anthony Le, and his associates Barry Phan, Jose Garcia and Alejandro Garcia, made more than $1 million a year operating a drug ring, authorities said. The men, all San Jose residents, were booked into jail Nov. 28 on weapons violations and drug trafficking charges.

“They would vacuum-seal the marijuana, box it up, bring it to a freight company and have it shipped under the guise of computer parts,” said Lt. Paul Messier, commander of the San Jose Police Department’s investigations unit.

Old Dominion was one of the heavy duty freight companies the men used to ship drugs after providing documents listing a fake inventory, police said. One of the men would sometimes fly to Memphis or Baltimore ahead of the delivery so he could meet the package when it arrived, Messier said.

In one year, the group allegedly racked up $70,000 in shipping costs.

Attorneys for the men did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Messier said the men transported marijuana to the East Coast and the South because cannabis is worth 20 to 30 percent more in those markets.

The bust was a culmination of two years of surveillance and investigations, police said, and detectives are still working to identify other members of the network.

Ashley McBride is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ashley.mcbride@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ashleynmcb