Trung Duc Lu Biography: Kidnapping, Torture and Murder Fugitive
Information tracked down by our reporters indicates that Trung Duc Lu was born October 1, 1980, in Vietnam and came to the United States as a teenager with his mother, settling in Queens, New York.
He became a permanent resident but never sought citizenship. Authorities link him to the Born to Kill street gang, also known as BTK or the Canal Boys, a Vietnamese group with roots in Manhattan’s Chinatown.
Make we look at the facts. In August 2014, Lu and two associates traveled from New York to Philadelphia to collect a large drug debt, said to exceed one hundred thousand dollars and possibly closer to three hundred thousand, owed by two brothers, Vu “Kevin” Huynh, 31, and Viet Huynh, 28, who dealt marijuana.
A third man, their friend Tan Voong, was also targeted.
The three were lured one by one to a house in Southwest Philadelphia. There, they were tied up, beaten, and tortured in a garage in an attempt to recover the money.
After some cash was obtained, the captors drove the three men to a parking lot along the Schuylkill River. Each was stabbed repeatedly, bound, weighted with buckets of cement, and thrown into the water.
The two brothers died. Voong survived, swam free, and later cooperated with police.
Lu Flees the United States
Lu fled the country shortly afterward and is believed to have returned to Vietnam.
On July 10, 2019, a federal arrest warrant was issued in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania charging him with conspiracy to commit kidnapping, three counts of kidnapping, interstate travel in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to collect an extension of credit by extortionate means, collection of an extension of credit by extortionate means, conspiracy to distribute marijuana, and aiding and abetting.
On March 11, 2026, the FBI added him to the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list and offered a reward of up to one million dollars for information leading directly to his arrest.
He is described as heavily tattooed on both upper arms, including dragon and claw and tiger designs, and has used multiple aliases.
As it stands right now, he is still believed to be living in Vietnam.
