Pubdate: Fri, 03 Aug 2001 Source: The Herald-Sun (NC) Copyright: 2001 The Herald-Sun Contact: http://www.herald-sun.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428 BARCELONA ECSTASY RING BROKEN UP BARCELONA, Spain -- Police have broken up a global Ecstasy smuggling ring based here, arresting 23 people around the world in the culmination of a yearlong international investigation, authorities said Thursday. Since May, authorities in Spain, the United States, Holland, Canada and Australia have seized a quarter-million Ecstasy pills linked to the ring. This week, the authorities rounded up the people suspected of running the operation, including 11 Israelis, six Spaniards, and two Moroccans. The investigation, called "Operation Israel," was launched about a year ago after Barcelona police noticed a group of Israelis with no obvious sources of income living extravagantly in local resorts. When alleged ringleader Oded Twito was arrested in May on a U.S. extradition warrant, he provided information about the operation that led to the new arrests, police said. From Barcelona, the group directed the production of pills at clandestine labs in the Netherlands for shipment to users in the United States, Australia and Israel, police said. Profits were funneled back to Israel, where they were laundered in real estate purchases. The ringleaders thought they were safe because they were far from their activities, police spokeswoman Vanesa Ariet said. Drug enforcement agents told Barcelona's La Vanguardia newspaper the smuggling ring used elderly people as couriers to help avoid suspicion at border checks. Police would not give a figure but the newspaper said the ring distributed 1 million pills a year. Ecstasy generally has a street value in the United States of between $20 to $40 per pill. Ecstasy, a synthetic psychoactive drug also known as MDMA, became popular at late-night parties known as "raves," and its use has since spread. U.S. Customs Service seizures have risen from about 400,000 pills in 1997 to more than 9 million in 2000. The drug typically induces feelings of euphoria and dramatically raises blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature. The Barcelona ring was one of the main networks supplying the U.S. market, authorities said. The 10 suspects arrested in Spain include Michel Elkaiam, who police said was Twito's right-hand man, and the rest of the ring leadership. Spanish police said seven people associated with the operation were arrested in the United States after the seizure of thousands of pills in Miami. "Operation Israel" was coordinated with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Customs Service, and police in Israel, Germany, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe