13 INDICTED IN CHARLESTON-AREA DESIGNER DRUG RING

Grand jury charges group with selling nearly $1 million worth of Ecstasy and
other popular party drugs

A federal grand jury has indicted 13 people, mostly Charleston-area
residents, on charges they conspired to sell Ecstasy and other drugs in what
investigators on Thursday called the largest designer drug operation in
Charleston's history.

A seven-month investigation by federal agents and Charleston County
deputies, dubbed "Fallen Angels," uncovered a multidrug network that sold
nearly $1 million worth of drugs shipped to the area from New York City and
Miami.

The suspects, all in their 20s, come from across the Charleston area, from
the gated community of Wild Dunes on Isle of Palms and upscale Mount
Pleasant apartments to Ladson and Summerville.

The indictment alleges that the suspects sold Ecstasy, ketamine, the pill
GHB, powder cocaine and "purple haze" marijuana, a highly potent marijuana
that sells for $6,500 per pound.

Ecstasy, ketamine and GHB are commonly referred to as designer drugs, which
are derived by altering an existing drug to produce a desired effect.
They're often used at rave parties and young adult nightclubs.

Within the drug ring, the suspects had positions as suppliers, gun runners,
enforcers and drug processors, investigators said. Young women served as
couriers, taking drugs, guns and money in vacuum-sealed packages stored in
the door panels of high-end rental cars, officials said.

Charleston County sheriff's Sgt. David Robertson, a narcotics investigator,
said designer drugs have gained in popularity in the Lowcountry in the past
two years, primarily among high school-college-aged people. Though
statistics were not available Thursday, Robertson said deputies have noticed
a marked increase in designer drug arrests and seizures.

"Three years ago, I never heard of Ecstasy," he said. "Now it's getting more
popular every day."

All but one of the 13 suspects, who were arrested earlier this week, have
been released on bail, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Alston Badger.

Angel Luis Rodriguez, 27, of New York City, who is suspected to be the
ringleader of the 2-1/2-year-old operation, was arrested in Charleston
earlier this year. He remains in custody because he is considered the
greatest flight risk, Badger said.

After Rodriguez's arrest, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration adopted
the investigation from the sheriff's office. "It began with Charleston
County's metro guys making an Ecstasy arrest, and it led to their sources,"
Badger said.

In addition to Rodriguez, the 11-count indictment names: Michael Joseph
Grasso, 29, and Rachel Parks, 23, both of Mount Pleasant; Douglas Andrew
Ladson, 23, Robert Stephen Ryder, 23, and Jason Youmans, 26, all of
Charleston; George David Carr, 30, and Ronald Gray, 26, both of Summerville;
Mark Moore, 26, of Myrtle Beach; Daniel Cavey, 29, of Isle of Palms; Larry
Caulder, 28, of Ladson; Shawn Kevin Droze, 23, of Moncks Corner; and Thomas
Harkleroad, 24, of Goose Creek.

If convicted, the suspects would face maximum fines of $4 million each and
10 years in prison. All have pleaded not guilty, according to court
documents.

Charleston attorney Peter Shahid, who represents Droze, said he will file a
motion asking the government to release its evidence against his client, who
is accused of cocaine sales. Droze was released to the custody of his
sister, Shahid said.

Authorities said the drug ring has operated since November 2001 and has
coordinated the distribution of drugs between Florida and New York. Once in
Charleston, they would be processed and packaged for distribution at local
nightclubs and parties. To help conceal the drugs inside cars, the packages
contained dryer sheets to mask their scent in the event of a search by a
police dog, authorities said.

Investigators estimate that the drug operation netted several hundred
thousand dollars in profits from local sales, according to a DEA synopsis of
the case. The suspects reportedly conspired to distribute thousands of
Ecstasy pills, hundreds of ketamine vials, hundreds of pounds of
high-potency marijuana, multiple kilos of cocaine and an undetermined amount
of GHB, the report states.

Rodriguez acted as a leader and supplier whose role was to acquire Ecstasy,
cocaine and marijuana, authorities said, adding that he also was called on
to pressure people who didn't pay for drugs they had received. Ladson,
Grasso and Parks were quasi-partners in the operation and would split
profits with Rodriguez, the DEA report states.

In February, sheriff's detectives arrested Rodriguez after seizing an
undisclosed amount of marijuana, 1,282 grams of cocaine and 1,110 Ecstasy
pills from his apartment on William Kennerty Drive in West Ashley, according
to an arrest affidavit. Rodriguez initially gave deputies a Florida driver's
license with a false name, the affidavit states. The same month, sheriff's
detectives arrested Youmans on Ecstasy trafficking charges. Deputies
arrested Parks, a mother and registered nurse, on a similar charge when she
showed up at Youmans' bail hearing.

Sheriff's detectives searched Parks' Mount Pleasant home and found ledgers
that listed numbers, profits and initials of customers, according to an
affidavit.

The next week, deputies charged Parks with trafficking cocaine after finding
more than a kilo of the drug at her Cambridge Lakes Drive home. At the time,
sheriff's Lt. John Clark said Parks was one of seven people linked to a
far-reaching drug operation.

Designer drugs generally are produced in clandestine labs, often in Europe,
and shipped into smaller cities such as Charleston from larger urban areas
such as Miami and New York City, authorities said.

Though the drugs move through an underground network, their presence has not
gone unnoticed.

In June 2001, 16 people, including a 16-year-old, were charged with
possession and distribution of Ecstasy, GHB and other drugs at a weekend
rave party at the Exchange Park in Ladson that attracted 1,500 people to a
"supermarket of drugs," deputies said.