FBI seeks Vietnamese-American drug suspect for killing two compatriots

FBI offers one million USD reward in manhunt for Trung Duc Lu, accused of torturing and murdering two Vietnamese-American brothers in Philadelphia.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on March 11 added Trung Duc Lu to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, increasing the reward for information leading to his arrest to one million USD.

Lu is wanted in connection with the kidnapping, torture, and murder of Vietnamese-American brothers Vu Huynh, 31, and Viet Huynh, 28, in August 2014. Their bodies were discovered in the Schuylkill River, bound, repeatedly stabbed, and weighted down with cement buckets.

Prosecutors allege Lu was dispatched by his New York gang to Philadelphia to collect a 100,000 USD drug debt before the murders. "These were extremely brutal individuals. The savagery of the crime far exceeded what our crime scene unit typically encountered," recalled John Taggert, a former crime scene investigator.

The approximately 46-year-old man immigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam as a teenager. Lu previously resided in Queens, New York, and is suspected of being a member of the "Born to Kill" gang, also known as BTK or Canal Boys.

Portrait and large back tattoo of Trung Duc Lu. *Photo: ABC News*

Federal prosecutor David Metcalf stated at a March 11 press conference that many of Trung Duc Lu's accomplices have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted. Among them was Tam Le, who received a death sentence but died in prison in 2025.

Lu was indicted in absentia in 2019, following the issuance of an arrest warrant. The FBI believes Lu has fled the U.S.

"We will continue to focus on hunting this man down, with all available resources domestically and internationally," Wayne Jacobs, head of the FBI's Philadelphia office, said at the press conference.

According to the FBI's wanted notice, Lu uses several aliases, including: Phong Le, Tuan Hoang, Brendan Lu, Calvin Lu, "B". He speaks English and Vietnamese, and his recorded occupation is a nail technician.

The suspect also has several identifiable tattoos, including a dragon and "Asian Pride" on his back, along with dragon and tiger tattoos on both arms. Lu is approximately 1.7 meters tall and weighs about 63 kilograms.