Pubdate: Fri, 29 Sep 2006 Source: Watertown Daily Times (NY) Copyright: 2006 Watertown Daily Times Contact: http://www.wdt.net Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/792 Author: Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) ARREST IN 3 STATES, CANADA TARGET ECSTASY SMUGGLING RING NEW YORK - Twenty-two people were accused Thursday of smuggling more than $5 million in Ecstasy pills from Canada into the United States. Of the defendants, 19 were arrested in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, and one was arrested in Canada, according to a news release from U. S. and Canadian federal investigators, which didn't account for the other two. The smuggling organization had imported more than 250,000 pills of the synthetic drug into the United States since 2005, authorities said. The pills, often packaged to look like candy, were distributed on the streets and in the clubs and brothels of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina and Georgia, among other places. On July 14, officers seized approximately 53,000 pills worth more than $1 million at a storage facility in Edison, N. J. The pills were labeled with stamps and markings including "cherry," "Versace" and " 6-point star," the news release said. The arrests were based on an indictment filled in U. S. District Court in Manhattan. They resulted from a yearlong probe involving many federal and local law enforcement organizations. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin