Pubdate: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 Source: Los Angeles Times (CA) Copyright: 2001 Los Angeles Times Contact: http://www.latimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248 Author: Donna De La Cruz, Associated Press Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) ECSTASY RING KINGPIN PLEADS GUILTY NEW YORK -- The kingpin of a drug ring that used Hasidic Jews to smuggle more than a million Ecstasy pills from the Netherlands to the United States pleaded guilty Wednesday. Sean Erez, 31, faces up to 20 years in prison and $1 million in fines when he is sentenced on Oct. 11 for conspiring to import Ecstasy. Erez, the last of more than a dozen defendants to plead guilty, also agreed to forfeit $750,000. Federal officials described Erez as one of the biggest importers of Ecstasy, a synthetic drug that combines the effects of amphetamines and hallucinogens. Erez recruited Hasidic Jewish youths as couriers on the belief that their conservative look -- black hats, dark suits and sidecurls _ would deflect the attention of Customs inspectors at Kennedy International Airport. The couriers were each promised a free trip to Europe and about $1,500 if they agreed to retrieve packages in cities including Brussels and Frankfurt. The couriers were told they were carrying diamonds. But authorities say they ignored obvious signs that each shipment consisted of up to 45,000 pills destined for sale in New York City and Miami Beach. They also smuggled proceeds back to Amsterdam in suitcases holding as much as $500,000. - --- MAP posted-by: Kirk