FIGHTING ECSTASY GETS NEW PRIORITY

Federal drug officials are creating a statewide computer database to
combat Ecstasy trafficking in New Jersey, an intelligence system said
to be the first of its kind in the nation.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's New Jersey database will
contain information from local law enforcement agencies on all
Ecstasy dealers and distributors arrested in the state and on
patterns of the drug's sale. It also will catalog the different types
of the drug and allow DEA chemists to use sophisticated scientific
methods to trace manufacturers.

"It will not only assist the counties and state agencies, but because
there are hundreds of local police departments in New Jersey, we will
be able to provide assistance in coordinating Ecstasy law enforcement
operations throughout the state," Anthony D. Cammarato, special agent
in charge of the DEA's New Jersey Field Division, said in an
interview.

The development of an intelligence system dedicated solely to Ecstasy
trafficking suggests that authorities fear the growing popularity of
the "feel-good" drug in New Jersey has outpaced efforts to thwart its
distribution. Once seen primarily in metropolitan-area nightclubs,
Ecstasy use has now been reported in each of the state's 21 counties,
Cammarato said.

The DEA's New Jersey database will resemble one that European police
agencies use to coordinate their efforts against criminal
organizations that make and distribute the drug. Most Ecstasy tablets
are produced in illegal laboratories in Europe, where the drug first
achieved popularity.

Cammarato said the intelligence system grew out of requests from
local officials for the DEA's assistance. The impetus behind it was
the notion that improved communication between New Jersey's many law
enforcement agencies could help step up the fight against Ecstasy
traffickers.

Information will be contributed by local, county, state, and federal
law enforcement agencies, and then analyzed by DEA experts, he said.

"We are in the process of gathering data now," said Cammarato, who
devised the system.

The system will contain names and biographical details of people
arrested on charges of Ecstasy trafficking in New Jersey -- where
they operate, details about their cars, and what types of tablets
they sell. DEA analysts will then study the data to discern trends
associated with the drug.

"We can determine what areas are showing the most increases in
Ecstasy use," Cammarato said.

Then local and other law enforcement resources can be deployed to
attack the problem, Cammarato said.

A key element of the DEA database will be a collection of the varied
logos that Ecstasy producers stamp on tablets sold in New Jersey.
Such designs are often well-known symbols borrowed illegally from the
legitimate business world, such as Mercedes-Benz emblems or Disney
characters.

The drug's producers use the logos to distinguish their Ecstasy
tablets from those made by competitors. And to differentiate their
product and attract repeat customers, illicit manufacturers often
devise tablet formulas that offer something more than sensations
induced by Ecstasy -- occasionally mixing in other drugs such as
amphetamines.

"Some users like certain logos because of the difference in highs
produced," Cammarato said. "Some logos [denote Ecstasy tablets that]
have different adulterants to give certain side effects. It's
marketing. That's why they have the brand-name concept."

By tracking the Ecstasy logos available in New Jersey, the DEA hopes
to trace the tablets back to their source.

"What we find is that dealers sell specific logos," Cammarato said.
"We'll be able to use the pills to identify the distributors."

The logos found on Ecstasy tablets that are listed on the DEA's New
Jersey database can then be compared to information compiled by the
agency's national testing laboratory in northern Virginia, he said.

DEA chemists test Ecstasy tablets to gauge their purity and
composition. They also examine them under powerful microscopes using
techniques similar to those used in the ballistic identification of
bullets and firearm shell casings.

When pill machines stamp logos on Ecstasy tablets, they leave behind
microscopic marks that are highly distinct, similar to fingerprints.
The tiny imperfections are made by scratches or other blemishes on
the surface of metal punches or dies used in the tablet-manufacturing
process.

These distinct marks give authorities the chance to trace the tablet's origin.

When law enforcement authorities encounter Ecstasy shipments, such
information as the time, place, and circumstances surrounding the
seizure is recorded by the DEA. Then, agency chemists analyze the
tablets to find out whether they were made by a laboratory that has
already been identified. This helps identify smuggling routes and
trafficking patterns.

Conceivably, an Ecstasy tablet sold in a nightclub last week at the
New Jersey shore can be traced back to the manufacturer of a shipment
seized in March by police at a Paris airport, and from there lead
back to an illegal laboratory in the Netherlands, experts said. Such
information can be compared to other Ecstasy trafficking cases and
shared with DEA agents stationed overseas, who coordinate their
efforts with law enforcement agencies in 56 countries around the
globe.

"So, the seizure of a couple hundred Ecstasy pills in a New Jersey
town can ultimately result in not only identifying the distributors,
but also the manufacturer, domestically and internationally,"
Cammarato said. "It could wind up immobilizing an entire Ecstasy
organization."

A similar database has been operating in western Europe for five
years, and officials there say it has been very helpful in the fight
against Ecstasy trafficking.

"We try to collect all the bits and pieces of information related to
the trafficking of Ecstasy inside the European Union,"said Jurg
Moelling, deputy head of the drug section at Europol. The cooperative
multinational law enforcement organization serves the 15 member
countries of the EU.

"If you very carefully analyze intelligence information, you realize
certain distribution patterns, and you identify certain modus
operandi," he said in a telephone interview from Europol's
headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. "We have an overview of
what's on the market and how distribution is developing," he said.
"If you compare time and place, you can really see a lot."