ECSTASY RING KINGPIN PLEADS GUILTY

NEW YORK -- The kingpin of a drug ring that used Hasidic Jews to
smuggle more than a million Ecstasy pills from the Netherlands to the
United States pleaded guilty Wednesday.

Sean Erez, 31, faces up to 20 years in prison and $1 million in fines
when he is sentenced on Oct. 11 for conspiring to import Ecstasy.

Erez, the last of more than a dozen defendants to plead guilty, also
agreed to forfeit $750,000.

Federal officials described Erez as one of the biggest importers of
Ecstasy, a synthetic drug that combines the effects of amphetamines
and hallucinogens.

Erez recruited Hasidic Jewish youths as couriers on the belief that
their conservative look -- black hats, dark suits and sidecurls _
would deflect the attention of Customs inspectors at Kennedy
International 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 City and Miami Beach. They
also smuggled proceeds back to Amsterdam in suitcases holding as much
as $500,000.