Feds: Gang member wanted in gruesome killings captured

ASHLAND, Va. -- Federal officials say a most wanted gang member sought for allegedly stabbing three victims and dumping them in a Philadelphia river has been captured in Virginia, reports CBS Philly.

The U.S. Marshal's service says that Tam Minh Le was captured on Tuesday in Ashland, Va., the station reports. Le was charged in September with the abduction and murder of two men found stabbed, bound and beaten in the Schuylkill River this summer - a third victim survived by playing dead and later swimming to shore, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The two men found dead were brothers Vu Huynh, 31, and Viet Huynh, 28, according to the U.S. Marshal's service. The men had reportedly been bound with zip ties and had suffered multiple stab wounds, had throats slashed and their heads wrapped in duct tape.

They had also apparently been tied to weighted canisters, reports CBS Philly.

Federal officials allege Le, 43, is a member of the New York City-based "Born to Kill" gang and kidnapped, tortured and killed the men over a drug debt. Le was placed on the U.S. Marshal's Service Top 15 Most Wanted list after the surviving victim identified him as the assailant, but his trail went cold.

According to the U.S. Marshal's Service, Le and other members of the Vietnamese gang allegedly held the two brothers hostage at a Southwest Philadelphia home Aug. 27 after the brothers allegedly gambled away $100,000 they were supposed to use to purchase narcotics. In an attempt to free the brothers, a third man arrived with a partial sum of $40,000, but "Le was not satisfied and allegedly decided all three men would pay with their lives," according to the Marshal's service.

Le and other members of the gang allegedly took the three to another location d repeatedly stabbed the bound victims, before tossing all three into the river. Only one survived.

The Philadelphia Police Department charged Le on Sept. 20 with a number of crimes including murder, attempted murder, false imprisonment, and abuse of a corpse, and federal officials joined the manhunt for Le after he was charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution in October, according to the Marshals.

The circumstances of Le's capture weren't immediately clear. A $25,000 reward had been offered for information that led to his arrest.