Pubdate: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 Source: Washington Post (DC) Copyright: 2000 The Washington Post Company Contact: 1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071 Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Author: William Booth, Washington Post Staff Writer FEDERAL AGENTS SEIZE RECORD AMOUNT OF ECSTASY LOS ANGELES, July 26 - Federal agents announced today they made the largest seizure of the party drug Ecstasy ever in the United States - some 2.1 million tablets - in a sting operation targeting a sophisticated smuggling ring that brought the designer drug from Amsterdam through Paris to Los Angeles International Airport. In other actions, police in London and Toronto also announced today major busts of Ecstasy traffickers. In the Canadian operation, code-named "Project Dr. Feelgood," police raided a laboratory operated by professional chemists and seized enough pure Ecstasy to make about 400,000 tablets. In Los Angeles, the seizure and the hunt for the group's ringleaders, who have eluded custody, point to the increasing attention that the government is giving to Ecstasy, a controversial drug that some federal officials describe as a dangerous, brain-damaging scourge, while many users - including a lot of young adults who attend "rave" parties - describe the drug as a relatively benign high that produces euphoria and a desire to dance. The U.S. Customs Service reports that it has seized about 8 million doses of the drug in the past 10 months, which is more than twice the 3.5 million pills seized during fiscal 1999. According to court documents, federal agents have been investigating a "high-level" trafficking drug ring led by Tamer Adel Ibrahim for 10 months. The ring operates by importing the drug from Amsterdam. It is manufactured by professional chemists in the Netherlands, where they have easy access to Ecstasy's precursor chemicals. Ecstasy is then smuggled to the United States in packages or hidden on human "mules" taking commercial flights. Authorities estimate it costs about 25 cents to make one dose, which can sell for $20 to $40 a hit at a rave or nightclub. Federal officials estimate the seizure at the Los Angeles airport last weekend was worth as much as $40 million on the street. So far, agents said, they have seized about 2,400 pounds of Ecstasy in attempted shipments of the drug by the Ibrahim ring in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Germany and Italy. Seven people have been arrested, though Ibrahim, 26, of Los Angeles, remains a fugitive. Federal drug enforcement agents and other experts say that while Ecstasy was once limited to a few large cities and small subcultures - gay men, ravers, committed club goers - it is now entering the mainstream. "We are finding it wherever there are young folks looking to party," said Mark Trouville, special agent in charge of the Los Angeles office of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Raymond Kelly, commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service, said, "This record-setting seizure signals that Ecstasy smuggling has reached an astounding new level. Capitalizing on increased demand, organized crime groups are flooding our nation with Ecstasy at a rate never seen before." Ecstasy can leave users overheated and dehydrated, especially if they attend raves and dance all night without drinking water. The number of Ecstasy users showing up in hospital emergency rooms has increased recently, from 68 in 1993 to 647 in 1998, the last year for which records are available. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D