RECORD AMOUNT OF 'ECSTASY' SEIZED FROM PLANE IN L.A.

Arrests: Authorities intercept 1,096 pounds -- $40 million worth -- of
so-called club drug, signaling hallucinogen's increase in popularity.

LOS ANGELES -- Federal agents in Los Angeles announced Wednesday that they
have seized $40 million worth of the hallucinogenic party drug "ecstasy,"
the largest such capture in U.S. history and a sign of the increasing
popularity and profitability of the so-called club drug.

The 1,096-pound shipment was seized Saturday at Los Angeles International
Airport after arriving on an Air France flight from Paris. Authorities
tracked the shipment -- in 15 boxes labeled as pens, pencils and tablets --
for weeks via wiretaps and seized faxes and say it probably originated in
Amsterdam.

Three people alleged to be linked to a ring that imported the drug from
Europe were arrested Tuesday in Los Angeles. They are Ryu "Steve" Jiha, 35,
a Korean national who resides in the Los Angeles area; Mark Edward Belin,
28, and Damon Todd Kidwell, 29, both of Los Angeles.

A fourth suspect, alleged ringleader Tamer Adel Ibrahim, 26, of Los
Angeles, is a fugitive. Ibrahim is described in court documents as a "high
level ecstasy trafficker who imports massive amounts of the drug from the
Netherlands to Los Angeles for distribution across the United States."

At a news conference held in his downtown offices, U.S. Attorney Alejandro
N. Mayorkas said the Ibrahim ring had "tentacles that reached throughout
the world."

He painted Saturday's seizure as evidence of a vast upswing in production
of ecstasy, one that threatens to cause serious physical and emotional
damage across the country. U.S. Customs officials said the agency has
seized nearly 8 million doses of the drug in the past 10 months, more than
twice the 3.5 million tablets seized during 1999.

Demand for the drug has surged in the United States and it is especially
sought after by teenagers and young adults who go to nightclubs and
"raves," all-night dance parties. It is a stimulant that can cause
hallucinations, fainting and heart attacks.

Los Angeles has become the hub of ecstasy smuggling because of its high
volume of international flights and its status as the center of the rave
culture, said authorities. Investigators have intercepted several large
shipments of the drug in Southern California, including a 700-pound cache
in December, which at that time was the largest ecstasy seizure in history.

Many of these busts are connected to the ring allegedly led by Ibrahim,
said authorities. The December seizure resulted in the arrests of five
people, including John Ibrahim, 22, of Los Angeles, said to be the cousin
of Tamar Ibrahim.

Customs agents also recently broke up a separate Los Angeles ring that in
two years of operation reportedly smuggled 9 million ecstasy tablets into
the country for distribution to the East and West coasts. Twenty-five
people have been arrested in that ring, which allegedly employed as many as
50 couriers who posed as tourists and business executives to smuggle the drug.

Conscious of the potential to make tens of millions of dollars from the
illicit drug, ecstasy traffickers are coalescing into professional cartels
and using increasingly sophisticated smuggling tactics, the agents said.

The drug, also known as MDMA, is synthetically produced and has been
primarily manufactured in Amsterdam and other western European cities.