B.C.'S ECSTACY TRADE HITS ALL-TIME HIGH

Officials Link Drug Smuggling to Asian Gangs

The party drug ecstasy is being smuggled into the U.S. at record
levels, say drug-enforcement officials.

There is also a huge stockpile in B.C. of the illegal drug typically
found at all-night rave parties.

RCMP Sgt. Scott Rintoul of the Drug and Organized Crime Awareness Unit
yesterday said the low cost of the drug on the street indicates a
steady supply.

Ecstasy bought in large quantities can go for $3 a tablet, said
Rintoul.

"It's supply and demand and there's a large supply out there right
now," he said.

At a recent Cascadia Mayors Council meeting in Surrey, U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent Roy Hoffman said an
estimated 52 per cent of the ecstasy tablets that are smuggled into
the U.S. come from B.C. That figure is higher than ever before, he
said.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's Jim Loring said officers are seeing
a lot more ecstasy at border crossings than ever before.

"Obviously there's a lot of money in it and the closer you can produce
it to where you are selling it the better."

Loring and Rintoul said the smuggling is linked to Asian organized
crime.

Rintoul said the chemicals needed for the drug are smuggled into B.C.,
where the tablets are produced.

He said the drug can often contain 10 per cent methamphetamine.

Authorities can tell if the drug is from B .C. or Ontario by the
methamphetamine that is added, Rintoul said.

"We started to see a trend," he said. "The consumer here wanted more
energy in the drug."