ECSTASY RINGS BROKEN UP, AUTHORITIES SAY

'Operation Green Clover' Results In 55 Drug Arrests

Federal law enforcement officials announced Thursday the breakup of three
major Ecstasy rings responsible for providing drugs to partying teens and
military cadets in Colorado over the past year.

Drug enforcement agents, military investigators, Denver police and a host
of other agencies joined forces for "Operation Green Clover," a yearlong
investigation that culminated with the recent arrests of 55 people, most of
them in Colorado.

Three defendants -- John D. Sposit of Lakewood and Megan M. Schey and Shawn
Sweeney, both of Fort Collins -- were charged with distributing the Ecstasy
pill that led to the death of Brittney Chambers in February. She was the
Superior teen who died six days after ingesting the pill on her 16th
birthday and falling into a coma.

The trio faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. None could be reached
for comment. The three are separate from several other individuals,
including three of Chambers' classmates, already charged for their roles in
providing the pill.

Drug Enforcement Administration chief Asa Hutchinson flew to Denver to
stress the significance of the Green Clover operation, named after a type
of Ecstasy pill. He said the investigation is stretching beyond the
nation's borders, possibly to Europe, and will reel in additional suspects.

"I'm here to put an exclamation point on this particular case," Hutchinson
said. The defendants distributed tens of thousands of pills across the
Front Range, to "schools to military bases to suburban neighborhoods to
rave parties. These traffickers flooded these communities" with drugs,
Hutchinson said.

Though the amount of Ecstasy drugs seized in the case is not the most ever,
the size of the distribution rings busted up by the effort is among the
largest, Hutchinson said. Two of the three rings were "entirely
dismantled," while another was disrupted, he said.

The arrests link Colorado's highest-profile Ecstasy cases of the past year,
including the death of Chambers and the court-martial of six Air Force
Academy cadets and drug use at other Colorado Springs military
installations, including Peterson and Schriever Air Force bases.

No military personnel were charged as part of the Green Clover case, but
many were supplied by dealers snagged as part of the operation, officials
said. The military cases against the drug users, including the academy
cadets, have been handled separately.

In another high-profile case, teen-ager Jared Snyder had Ecstasy in his
system when he was killed by a hit-and-run driver as he knelt naked on the
edge of Interstate 70 in March. Prior to that, a 15-year- old Douglas
County girl was hospitalized after taking Ecstasy pills. Documents released
by law enforcement didn't say whether those cases are linked to the
suppliers arrested in recent days.

Officials released a laundry list of what the investigation in Colorado and
California has netted so far: approximately 85,000 Ecstasy tablets, 2.5
kilograms of cocaine, 320 pounds -- 4,100 plants -- of marijuana, five
pounds of methamphetamine, 40,000 doses of LSD, $1.36 million, 13 vehicles
and 36 weapons.

Attorney General John Ashcroft has pegged Ecstasy, also called MDMA, and
other club drugs, including ketamine, GHB and methamphetamine, as a
priority. A key reason: Kids and sometimes even parents are led to believe
the drugs are relatively safe, and do little more than give teens an energy
boost for dancing, or staying up through all-night parties called "raves,"
officials said.

In fact, experts say Ecstasy increases chances of dehydration, organ
failure and increased body temperature, which can lead to death. The drug
can have long-term effects as well, including anxiety, paranoia and loss of
memory.

"It can raise your body temperature to 105 degrees, burning your internal
organs," Hutchinson said. "Ecstasy is an agony. Our children need to know
that using Ecstasy is like playing Russian roulette."

Three defendants -- including one charged with supplying the pill that
resulted in the death of Chambers -- were charged under a "drug kingpin"
statute. Punishment ranges from 20 years to life in prison.