Pubdate: Sat, 22 Dec 2001
Source: Bergen Record (NJ)
Copyright: 2001 Bergen Record Corp.
Contact:  http://www.bergen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/44
Author: Mitchel Maddux
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

ECSTASY SEIZURES UP SHARPLY AS SMUGGLERS FEED DEMAND

Over the past eight weeks, seizures of Ecstasy at Newark International 
Airport have soared dramatically, with U.S. Customs Service inspectors 
intercepting more than 542,000 tablets from smugglers traveling from 
Europe, officials said.

So far this fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1, seizures of Ecstasy tablets 
at Newark Airport equal nearly 65 percent of the total number intercepted 
in all of last year, officials said.

"Over half a million tablets in seven-eight weeks -- that's huge," said 
Thomas E. Manifase, assistant special agent in charge of the Customs 
Service's Newark investigations office.

This surge follows a virtual standstill in smuggling of the "feel- good" 
club drug through Newark Airport following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, 
a "dead period" that Manifase said lasted until about Oct. 20.

Authorities think heightened security at Newark and other airports across 
the country discouraged smuggling rings from sending couriers with Ecstasy 
tablets on commercial flights.

"I think the smugglers sensed the intense inspections and shut down their 
operations," Manifase said.

Newark Airport is one of the nation's top destinations for Ecstasy 
smugglers, partly because of its nine daily non-stop and connecting flights 
to the Netherlands, where officials say 80 percent of the Ecstasy entering 
the United States is produced.

Last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, customs inspectors at Newark 
Airport intercepted more than 851,000 Ecstasy tablets -- about twice as 
many as in fiscal 2000, officials said.

Authorities believe that Ecstasy is most commonly smuggled to the United 
States by couriers flying on commercial jetliners from Europe. When air 
travel dropped sharply following Sept. 11, it became harder for couriers to 
blend in with business travelers and tourists.

However, customs officials believe that with air travel again picking up, 
and with demand for the drug rising, the laws of economics have kicked in.

"You've got a distributor in the States screaming, 'Where's my product?' " 
explained Martin D. Ficke, the agent in charge of Newark customs 
investigations office. "And suppliers are saying, 'We've got the product, 
but we don't want to take a risk with the increased security.' Sooner or 
later, something's got to give. And it did."

After Sept. 11, a buildup of Ecstasy produced in clandestine European 
laboratories led to a surplus of the drug awaiting export to America, Ficke 
said. Consequently, inspectors at Newark Airport have found that Ecstasy 
couriers are carrying larger shipments than before.

"It's an attempt on their part to get as much in as they can and fill in 
these back orders," Ficke said.

The growing demand for Ecstasy in the United States has outpaced the 
ability of law enforcement agencies to stop its importation, officials say. 
The synthetic drug has become increasingly popular because of its perceived 
power to lower inhibitions and heighten feelings of exhilaration.

The drug's popularity extends to Europe, Asia, and Australia, as well, law 
enforcement officials say.

"Ecstasy is booming right now," said Robert Mangiamele, who heads the U.S. 
Drug Enforcement Administration's office in Berlin.

"The profit margin is great. And its bulk is not as great as cocaine," he 
said, referring to the relatively small amount of space needed to hide the 
tiny tablets in the false bottom of a suitcase or sewn into a garment's lining.

"Seizures have increased worldwide," Mangiamele said.

Authorities say the drug has been found in all of New Jersey's 21 counties 
and is popular at clubs and at nightspots along the shore. A two-part 
series published by The Record this summer also reported that Ecstasy is 
finding its way into suburban neighborhoods.

After law enforcement authorities at Newark Airport began increasing their 
scrutiny of flights originating in the Netherlands, smuggling organizations 
began sending their couriers on circuitous routes to try to disguise the 
origin of the contraband.

Since mid-October, most of the couriers arrested at Newark Airport were 
traveling on jetliners arriving from Germany, Switzerland, or France -- 
countries close to the Netherlands and with good travel connections to 
Amsterdam, officials said.

Many of the couriers arrested at Newark planned to meet traffickers 
operating in the metropolitan area. Others planned to catch connecting 
flights to a variety of U.S. destinations, officials said.

On Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted five men for allegedly trying 
to smuggle 1 million Ecstasy tablets from the Netherlands to the United 
States between April and November. The men, two of whom are Dutch 
nationals, ran the operation from Allentown, Pa., officials said. Some of 
the tablets were hidden in storage lockers in Somerset and Mercer counties, 
officials said.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager