CUSTOMS-TRAINED DRUG DOGS SNIFF OUT ECSTASY AT AIRPORTS

NEWARK, N.J. -- The front line of the domestic drug war rages in a
cavernous cargo bay beneath the airport terminal.

Bird, a 70-pound Labrador retriever who graduated first in his
Ecstasy-sniffing class, noses through suitcases from a Northwest
Airlines flight from Amsterdam, a primary source for the drug Ecstasy.
Three years ago, this flight was not a priority of law enforcement,
but a rapid rise in seizures of the drug has changed that.

Now, a quarter of all Ecstasy seizures in the USA occur here, at
Newark International Airport, or at John F. Kennedy International in
New York. Ecstasy -- the nickname for the drug compound 3,4
methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA) -- increases the user's sense of
euphoria and energy. New studies warn of the possibility of brain
damage with the drug's use. Ecstasy is classified federally as a
Schedule I drug, as is heroin.

Inspectors at Newark International seized 20,000 of the tablets in
1998. The following year, the number of seizures jumped to 444,000.
>From January through March 31 of this year, Customs inspectors here
have found 120,000 of the drug tablets.

The number of seizures this year is slightly higher than that in the
same period in 1999, but the traffickers -- realizing authorities are
watching the Dutch and Belgian routes -- are zigzagging through Europe
to avoid detection, officials say. The most recent seizures here came
from flights from Paris, Switzerland and Dusseldorf, Germany.

''We may have to start checking all of the flights out of Europe
soon,'' says Beverly Johnson, a senior Customs Service official.

Until recently, Ecstasy slipped under law enforcement radar. It evaded
the traditional dynamics of drug investigations, says Anthony Senneca,
special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
office in Newark. The tablets trade hands quietly and in the dark at
raves (all-night dance parties), rock concerts and clubs.

''These are not venues that provide a lot of opportunity for drug law
enforcement to look in,'' he says. ''Much of what the DEA does is
based on informants. We're not recruiting informants at the high
school level or colleges, so it's natural that these kinds of things
are going to fall under the radar screen.'' The best way to stifle the
Ecstasy trade is to intercept it at the border, before it gets to its
destination, he says.

Customs expects to seize at least 8 million tablets by the end of the
year, Commissioner Raymond Kelly says. ''We've found that the large
smuggling groups are highly compartmentalized from production to
distribution,'' he says. ''Each part tends to operate independently,
making the organization difficult to penetrate.''

At Newark, Customs inspector Alan Chow examines two X-ray screens of
images from each bag taken off the Amsterdam flight. Inspectors look
for marijuana and cocaine as well as Ecstasy tablets, which appear on
screen as small, white dots.

Once screened, bags travel on a conveyor belt to Bird, a 9-year law
enforcement veteran whose career includes 178 narcotics seizures worth
$182 million. Bird is one of 13 Customs Service drug dogs trained to
identify Ecstasy. They are the first federal canines trained to nose
out the drug.

Bird's classmates are being assigned to the international airports in
New York, Miami and Los Angeles. Dogs are also being sent to FedEx
headquarters in Memphis.