SEIZURE OF ECSTASY DRUG PUT AT RECORD $40 MILLION

LOS ANGELES -- It comes from Europe on the bodies and in the luggage of
passengers flying into Los Angeles International Airport. Once here, it
ends up in the mouths of people in dance clubs and rave parties throughout
Southern California.

On Saturday, 1,096 pounds of the hallucinogenic drug known as Ecstasy came
in 15 boxes on an Air France flight from Paris. Investigators tracking the
work of a smuggling ring expected it. Drug sniffing dogs located the
packages at LAX.

And yesterday, federal authorities announced that their find was the
largest single seizure of the drug in U.S. history.

The total take was 2.1 million tablets with a street value of $40 million.
U.S. Customs Service officials said the find accounts for one-quarter of
all Ecstasy seized by their agency in the last 10 months. The seizure shows
how fast the drug -- clinically known as Methylenedioxymethamphetamine or
MDMA -- has grown in the country.

Just three years ago, customs nationwide seized only 400,000 tablets of the
drug.

"Demand for Ecstasy is skyrocketing in this country, particularly among
young people," said Donald Shruhan, a U.S. Customs Service acting deputy
assistant commissioner. "This case is a true indication that Ecstasy
smuggling has reached alarming proportions."

Three people were arrested in connection with Saturday's shipment, but
authorities said the ringleader, Tamer Adel Ibrahim, 26, of Los Angeles
remains at large.

Prosecutors say Ibrahim is a high-level Ecstasy trafficker who imports the
drug from the Netherlands, a manufacturing hub for the drug, to Los Angeles
for distribution throughout the United States.

In custody are Ryu "Steve" Jiha, 35, a Korean citizen who lives in Granada
Hills, Mark Edward Belin, 28, and Damon Todd Kidwell, 29, both of Los
Angeles. Jiha and Belin made their initial federal court appearances
yesterday. Kidwell is being prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District
Attorney's Office.

According to court documents, the investigation started last year when a
shipment of 100 pounds of Ecstasy addressed to a hair salon in Upland was
detected moving through the Federal Express shipping center in Memphis, Tenn.

The investigation led to three separate seizures in the United States of
about 2 million tablets. Roughly $1.6 million in cash was seized as well.
Authorities said all the seizures were linked to the same trafficking
organization. Ibrahim's brother, John, is awaiting trial on a case
involving a 700-pound shipment of Ecstasy.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Mark Trouville
said the outfit is linked to an Israeli organized crime syndicate.

The Ecstasy market in this country is supplied and controlled by Western
European-based traffickers, Trouville said. In recent years, Israeli
organized crime syndicates -- some largely comprised of Russian emigrants
from organized crime groups -- have worked together with the traffickers to
gain control of the European markets and serve as a primary sources for
U.S. distribution of the drug.

Ecstasy is a synthetic drug manufactured mostly in Europe and commonly used
at nightclubs and underground "rave" parties. A hallucinogenic stimulant
that gives its users a feeling of euphoria, Ecstasy is also said to cause
brain damage and have other side effects.

The drug, which comes in pill or liquid form, costs about 25 cents per dose
to manufacture and usually sells for about $20 per tablet, authorities said.

Shruhan said it comes into the nation's major foreign ports -- Los Angeles
and New York -- through many methods. Los Angeles is an Ecstasy transport
hub, said Shruhan, because it's a major center for foreign travelers, but
also because "this is where young people live. This is where the rave
market is. This is where the consumer market is. That's why we're seeing it
coming in through here."

Part of the demand problem, Trouville said, is because users don't believe
the drug is harmful.