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Office of the District Attorney
Office of the District Attorney
News release

Two arrested after new DA task force raids private weapon arsenal

November 30, 2023

For release on November 30, 2023

A table full of assault weapons, body armor, ammunition, and drugs that were recovered in a raid of an illegal weapons arsenal.


CONTACT: 
Marisa McKeown
Supervising Deputy District Attorney
Crime Strategies Unit
(408) 792-2608

            Two arrested after new DA task force raids private weapon arsenal

Two San Jose men face felony weapon and drug charges after District Attorney investigators discovered an arsenal of illegal assault weapons, body armor, armor piercing ammunition, fentanyl, and more than 2,000 “ecstasy” pills.

John Phan, 33, and Calvin Le, 25, will be arraigned this afternoon at 1:30 p.m. in Department 23 of the Hall of Justice in San Jose on a litany of gun and drug charges, including the illegal manufacturing of guns. If convicted, they face 18 years in prison.

The dangerous stash was found in a home in the midst of a crowded mobile home park in south San Jose.

This investigation was led by the newly formed Santa Clara County Gun Violence Task Force (GVTF) – a special unit comprised of officers from various departments that work to take weapons out of the hands of the suicidal or mentally ill, children, and felons, like one of the suspects in this case. While the GVTF has been focusing its early work on disarming people ordered by the court to not have guns, this was the first operation for a weapons arsenal.

“This is a county that is still healing from mass shootings and reeling from two baby girls who were poisoned with opioids,” DA Jeff Rosen said. “Our task force is actively and energetically looking for the people selling weaponry to killers and drugs that are lethal. Our task force is finding them and – if I have anything to say about it – they are going to jail.”

On Nov. 28, 2023, members of the GVTF executed a search warrant at a location on Ford Road in San Jose. The GVTF investigation revealed that Phan was an armed prohibited felon.

During the search warrant operation, officers recovered multiple illegally possessed firearms, illegally modified assault weapons, machine guns, ghost guns, body armor, bulk quantities of high-caliber ammunition and large quantities of drugs for sale. The following was recovered at the scene:

  • 2 AK-style assault rifles, suspected machine guns
  • 2 AR-style semi-automatic assault rifles, with one a ghost assault rifle
  • 1 ghost pistol
  • 1 pistol with an obliterated serial number
  • 2 handguns
  • Thousands of rounds of ammunition
  • Large amounts of drugs for sale, including fentanyl, 2,000+ pills of MDMA, cocaine, marijuana, and more than $10,000 in cash

The DA thanks the San Jose Police Department’s tactical MERGE Unit, which greatly assisted the operation.

 

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