AGENTS RAID ALLEGED ECSTASY DRUG LAB

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A large and sophisticated laboratory for the club-drug
Ecstasy was shuttered after a raid Thursday, authorities said.

The lab was hidden behind a bookcase in an office in an industrial park in
Escondido, 30 miles north of San Diego, authorities said.

Five people were arrested at the lab late Wednesday, and 21 others were
picked up in related sweeps in and around San Diego and Los Angeles. More
arrests were expected.

Arraignments for the suspects were scheduled for Friday.

The raid capped a yearlong investigation into an organization capable of
making between 1 million and 1.5 million tabs of Ecstasy a month, said
Errol Chavez, Drug Enforcement Administration special agent in charge.

Investigators found plastic bags filled with several thousand Ecstasy pills
and enough chemicals to make a million more, said Todd Robinson, assistant
U.S. attorney.

Among those arrested was Dennis L. Alba, 52, whom authorities identified as
the ringleader. A phone number for his Oceanside address was unlisted, and
he could not be reached.

The DEA had custody of Alba late Thursday, and whether he had an attorney
could not be determined. The U.S. Marshals Service said it would have more
information when he was turned over to the Bureau of Prisons.

Typically, Ecstasy is made overseas, primarily in Europe. More than 80
percent of the pills distributed in the United States are believed
imported, Chavez said.

"This case represents a major attempt to establish a foothold in the United
States," he said.