7 INDICTED IN ECSTASY CONSPIRACY PROBE

1 Million Doses Driven to N.O., Court Files Say

For almost a year, a drug dealer made regular trips from Miami to New
Orleans with some 50,000 tablets of Ecstasy stored in the spare tire of his
sport utility vehicle, prosecutors say.

And when someone got in the way of the drug ring, suspect Jason Rodriguez
and another man roughed him up, a federal grand jury charged, in a case
involving the overall distribution of about 1 million tablets, the largest
quantity of Ecstasy prosecutors have seen in New Orleans from one
investigation.

Rodriguez, 24, faces federal charges of conspiracy to distribute Ecstasy as
well as aggravated battery. Michael J. Strazzulla, 24, of Hollywood, Fla.,
is also charged with battery.

Five others are charged with conspiring in the Ecstasy enterprise: Brad M.
Brunet, 23, of Metairie; Jonathan I. Little, 30, of Lafayette; William D.
Wagner, 33, of Harvey; Steven J. Forster Jr., 24, of Metairie; and Dustin
Arnondin, 25, of Kenner.

The indictments and other documents in the case were unsealed Tuesday.
Prosecutors said Brad Brunet is not related to Robert Brunet, whose
corporation Barbecue Inc. pleaded guilty last year in federal court to
violating the so-called "crack house law" by creating an environment for
drug use at the State Palace Theatreon Canal Street during electronic music
events.

The conspiracy to distribute charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 20
years and a $1 million fine; the battery charge also carries up to 20 years.

Ecstasy, or MDMA, has long been associated with electronic music parties
called "raves," but it has grown in popularity in the past few years in
places far from the dance floor. Prices vary, but the median price per
one-tablet dose is about $25. As its bold street name implies, Ecstasy is
known for providing its users with euphoric sensations.

None of the accused has had an opportunity to enter a plea, and
arraignments are set for Aug. 4. Reached at his office in Fort Lauderdale,
Rodriguez's attorney John Cotrone declined comment.

Prosecutors said Rodriguez and Strazzulla muscled a local man named Russel
Vinet on March 4, 2001, because they wrongly suspected him of stealing a
large number of Ecstasy tablets. No other details of the incident were made
available Tuesday.

According to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in New Orleans, the
Ecstasy bust was a textbook example of using confidential informants and
low-level operators to snare the bigger dealers. Eleven such informants,
all alleged co-conspirators with Rodriguez, spoke with investigators, the
complaint shows.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents learned last September that two
local men allegedly were dealing Ecstasy in New Orleans and that the source
of the drug was in Miami. The tip led to the arrest of a man named Roland
Whitney, who was booked on Sept. 15 with possession of 2,400 tablets.
Whitney implicated his supplier, Brian Williams, who also cooperated with
the DEA, admitting he passed on the 2,400 pills to Whitney and naming
Rodriguez as his supplier, according to an affidavit in federal court.

Between May and September 2001, Williams told authorities, he bought 50,000
tablets from Rodriguez and sold them throughout New Orleans.

With that information, DEA agents obtained an arrest warrant accusing
Rodriguez of violating his probation, the result of a previous conviction
for cocaine distribution. He was arrested Oct. 11.

He was found staying with Arnondin at his home on Sun Valley Lane in
Slidell, his Lincoln Navigator parked in the garage. Inside the SUV were
two spare tires that had been split open.

On Nov. 2, agents searched the Sun Valley Lane home and seized 63,000
Ecstasy tablets hidden in a lawn mower's collection bag, records show.