2 men arrested on drugs, weapons charges
Philadelphia police arrested two men Monday night on charges of selling illegal firearms in South Philadelphia. Police said Hung Vo, 18, of Mifflin Street near 19th in South Philadelphia, and Rodney Phath, 24, of Mascher Street near Chew Avenue in Olney, were charged with weapons offenses, conspiracy, possession of a controlled substance and possession with the intent to deliver.
Philadelphia police arrested two men Monday night on charges of selling illegal firearms in South Philadelphia.
Police said Hung Vo, 18, of Mifflin Street near 19th in South Philadelphia, and Rodney Phath, 24, of Mascher Street near Chew Avenue in Olney, were charged with weapons offenses, conspiracy, possession of a controlled substance and possession with the intent to deliver.
Narcotics Field Unit Officers learned that the men were selling assault rifles on Mifflin Street near 19th.
"As a result of the information we had, we were able to make contact with one of them and set up a buy," said Narcotics Field Unit Capt. Chris Werner.
Officers bought a fully loaded SKS assault rifle from Vo, whom they called the intermediary, for $900.
"He would then take the money back to Phath," Werner said of the busted operation.
Officers later raided Vo's home on Mifflin Street, where they confiscated a loaded Smith & Wesson .380 semi-automatic pistol, a loaded Makarov semi-automatic pistol, additional ammunition, and about $1,500 worth of ecstasy tablets.
"When you look at the power of a weapon like that and the possibility of the carnage it could cause, it's extremely significant we were able to get it off the streets," said Chief Inspector William Blackburn, of the Narcotics Bureau.
Court records show this isn't Phath's first brush with the law.
He has arrests that date back to 2006 for charges similar to those he now faces, but most of the cases were later dismissed or withdrawn. *