AGENTS ARREST 55 PEOPLE IN ECSTASY RINGS

DENVER - More than 50 people were arrested in Colorado and California
on Wednesday in what federal drug agents said were three of the
nation's biggest Ecstasy rings - one of which is blamed for the death
of a 16-year-old girl.

Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Asa Hutchinson said the
defendants flooded communities in Colorado with Ecstasy and other
so-called club drugs, as well as LSD, methaphetamine and marijuana.

Three of those indicted are blamed in Brittney Chambers' death and
could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.

Chambers died in January after taking Ecstasy her friends bought for
her 16th birthday party in suburban Denver. She went into a coma
after taking the pill and died a few days later.

"As Brittney's friends and family can tell us, Ecstasy is an agony,"
Hutchinson said.

The investigation was named Operation Green Clover, for an Ecstasy
pill in the shape of a clover.

Fifty-five people were arrested in Colorado and California on
Wednesday on state and federal charges. Eleven others were being
sought.

The charges include distribution of Ecstasy, conspiracy and
distribution resulting in death.

Officers in California and Colorado seized 85,000 Ecstasy tablets,
2.5 kilograms of cocaine, 320 pounds of marijuana, five pounds of
methamphetamine, 40,000 doses of LSD, $1.36 million in cash, 13
vehicles and 36 weapons, said Bob Castillo, head of the DEA office in
Denver.

The investigation began after a Colorado state trooper made an arrest
last August outside Colorado Springs and found Ecstasy pills.