Police: Eggroll carts were fencing front Vendors on The Drag are accused of buying stolen items The eggroll carts on The Drag near the University of Texas have been an Austin institution since the 1970s. Police say that for at least the last three years, they've also been a front for a major fencing operation. Late Wednesday, police arrested Lieu Thi Pham, 48, Xuan Huong Dao, 24, Hug Quoc Pham, 44, and Thien Dao, 53, for engaging in organized crime, a felony. According to police, members of the Pham and Dao families would buy anything from stolen fishing rods to DVD players to T-shirts. They stored the items in the eggroll carts before moving them along. The family also peddled prescription pills, such as Valium, police said. Working off several tips, undercover officers, posing as shoplifters and thieves, sold VCRs and other items to the vendors. When they searched their home, officers found $200,000 worth of stolen items, as well as $62,000 in cash now you know that every single UT student has eaten at one of these stands during their 4 year tenure... i used to live off of the fried rice! looks like we may have been aiding an asian mafioso???
somehow i managed to never buy anything from them, but most of my friends lived off of that grub at times! Dear lord...the sanctity of the drag has now been tainted!
The vendor in front of the Littlefield Fountain (South Mall) is weird. One time I bought an eggroll and he winked at me. Freak.
Are they related to the ones that are actually on campus? There's this one dude that is real polite there.
well, if you remember what they look like, here's a link to the original article, which includes pictures of the offenders... http://www.austin360.com/aas/metro/062102/0621eggroll.html the older woman (third from left) does actually work at the cart on the drag (right across from the Union)... i used to see her everyday!
well i've never bought anything from those carts in two years at UT so the FBI best not be knocking on my door anytime soon. my friends however have some splainin' to do. is the food from those things actually good or just cheap and right in front of you or i guess even expensive but still right in front of you.
I think we're talking about the same dude. He's young...around college age. Calls everyone "big guy". He wasn't arrested so he's probably not involved in this stuff. People should still go to his stand. I think one's that got shut down are the one in front of the Co-op and the one on the corner of Speedway and 26th (engineering area).
Or maybe he wasn't caught yet? I think they may be related; I've always thought "man, bet these guys are making some cash."
Man, this is f*cked up. I eat from the egg roll stand next to the RLM about twice a week as do most other engineering students at UT. This is appalling.
d*mn shame...I used to live off that stuff... My top spots on Campus 1. eggroll stand 2. wendy's at the union 3. texadelphia at the union 4. bonzai on the drag 5. chipotle 6. dobie mall and bus. school atrium
oh my... bonzai is gone.... eggroll stand is gone... eggroll stand has become a part of UT's Culture... They have been feeding thousands of hungry college students. Their foods were cheap... good and very addciting (msg?. I should start my own eggroll cart since they are gone!!!.. making mad cash
Did I see right that they changed the name of the Chinese joint from "Hao Hao" (hao means "good" in Chinese, I believe) to "Hoa Hoa"....? Did they **** the sign up or change the name?
i thought it was always spelled "Hoa Hoa" but pronounced "Hao Hao"... and isn't it a Vietnamese restaurant, so maybe it means something in Vietnamese... those are just my hunches, its been a few years since i graduated, so maybe my memory is fuzzy...
the joint in dobie mall?...hoa hoa?...is that what we're talking about? speaking of which...all of my friends love the pho place next to coco's....but i prefer madam mam's noodles 'n' more baby!!! thai food rox. eggroll cart won't be missed from here..
man they used to have the best pink lemonades too... nothing more refreshing while walking from the bus stop to the engineering buildings on a hot spring day!
