FEDERAL AGENTS SEIZE RECORD AMOUNT OF ECSTASY

LOS ANGELES, July 26 - Federal agents announced today they made the largest
seizure of the party drug Ecstasy ever in the United States - some 2.1
million tablets - in a sting operation targeting a sophisticated smuggling
ring that brought the designer drug from Amsterdam through Paris to Los
Angeles International Airport.

In other actions, police in London and Toronto also announced today major
busts of Ecstasy traffickers. In the Canadian operation, code-named
"Project Dr. Feelgood," police raided a laboratory operated by professional
chemists and seized enough pure Ecstasy to make about 400,000 tablets.

In Los Angeles, the seizure and the hunt for the group's ringleaders, who
have eluded custody, point to the increasing attention that the government
is giving to Ecstasy, a controversial drug that some federal officials
describe as a dangerous, brain-damaging scourge, while many users -
including a lot of young adults who attend "rave" parties - describe the
drug as a relatively benign high that produces euphoria and a desire to dance.

The U.S. Customs Service reports that it has seized about 8 million doses
of the drug in the past 10 months, which is more than twice the 3.5 million
pills seized during fiscal 1999.

According to court documents, federal agents have been investigating a
"high-level" trafficking drug ring led by Tamer Adel Ibrahim for 10 months.
The ring operates by importing the drug from Amsterdam. It is manufactured
by professional chemists in the Netherlands, where they have easy access to
Ecstasy's precursor chemicals. Ecstasy is then smuggled to the United
States in packages or hidden on human "mules" taking commercial flights.

Authorities estimate it costs about 25 cents to make one dose, which can
sell for $20 to $40 a hit at a rave or nightclub. Federal officials
estimate the seizure at the Los Angeles airport last weekend was worth as
much as $40 million on the street.

So far, agents said, they have seized about 2,400 pounds of Ecstasy in
attempted shipments of the drug by the Ibrahim ring in Los Angeles, San
Francisco, Germany and Italy. Seven people have been arrested, though
Ibrahim, 26, of Los Angeles, remains a fugitive.

Federal drug enforcement agents and other experts say that while Ecstasy
was once limited to a few large cities and small subcultures - gay men,
ravers, committed club goers - it is now entering the mainstream.

"We are finding it wherever there are young folks looking to party," said
Mark Trouville, special agent in charge of the Los Angeles office of the
Drug Enforcement Administration.

Raymond Kelly, commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service, said, "This
record-setting seizure signals that Ecstasy smuggling has reached an
astounding new level. Capitalizing on increased demand, organized crime
groups are flooding our nation with Ecstasy at a rate never seen before."

Ecstasy can leave users overheated and dehydrated, especially if they
attend raves and dance all night without drinking water. The number of
Ecstasy users showing up in hospital emergency rooms has increased
recently, from 68 in 1993 to 647 in 1998, the last year for which records
are available.