ECSTASY KINGPIN PLEADS GUILTY TO SMUGGLING

The kingpin of an international drug ring that used Orthodox Jews to
smuggle more than a million ecstasy pills from the Netherlands to the
United States pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Brooklyn.

Sean Erez, 31, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import ecstasy from late
1998 through June 1999 and agreed to forfeit $750,000 in proceeds on
deposits in three banks in Luxembourg. Erez, the last of seven defendants
to plead guilty for their roles in the drug ring, faces a maximum sentence
of 20 years in prison and $1 million in fines when he is sentenced on Oct. 11.

Federal officials described Erez as one of the biggest exporters of ecstasy
to the United States. Erez recruited Hasidic Jewish youths as couriers on
the belief that their conservative look - black hats, dark suits and side
curls - would deflect the attention of Customs inspectors at Kennedy
Airport. The couriers were each promised a free trip to Europe and about
$1,500 if they agreed to retrieve packages in cities including Brussels and
Frankfurt. The couriers were told they were carrying diamonds.

But authorities say they ignored obvious signs that each shipment consisted
of up to 45,000 pills destined for sale in New York and Miami Beach. They
also smuggled proceeds back to Amsterdam in suitcases holding as much as
$500,000. The couriers smuggled or tried to smuggle the drugs through
Brussels, Paris and Montreal.

According to court papers, Erez moved from New York to Amsterdam in the
fall of 1998 and set up the drug ring there. In December 1998, Erez's
recruiters hired numerous Orthodox individuals between the ages of 18 and
20 - mostly men - from the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn and Monsey,
N.Y., to serve as couriers.

Eight couriers and recruiters have pleaded guilty, two others were
convicted in France, and one was convicted in Canada. Acting Brooklyn
U.S. Attorney Alan Vinegrad praised the help his office received from the
Dutch National Police and the Dutch Ministry of Justice.