U.S. CUSTOMS AGENTS FIND ECSTASY IN ORLANDO

ORLANDO -- (AP) -- More than 16,000 tablets of Ecstasy were
confiscated after a routine airport check of a suitcase led U.S.
Customs agents to the illegal drugs.

Six people were arrested when agents at Orlando International Airport
discovered the drugs, which authorities said were destined for nightclubs.

The six were being held without bail Saturday at the John Polk
Correctional Facility in Seminole County. The defendants appeared
before U.S. Magistrate James Glazebrook on Thursday on federal charges
of illegally importing the drug into the United States.

The six arrested include: Jose Espinosa, 36, Esmeralda Philips, 18,
Georgina Santos Castillo, 27, Isabel Paula, 22, Juan Jimenez, 35, and
Roberto Hodge, 38.

Espinosa, Philips, Castillo and Paula arrived at the airport at 6:30
p.m. Wednesday from Brussels, Belgium, according to a criminal
complaint written by U.S. Customs Agent Roger Joseph.

At a Customs checkpoint, officials found more than three pounds of
tablets in Espinosa's suitcase. The drugs tested positive for MDMA, a
synthetic hallucinogen that sells for $20 to $30 a pill.

Espinosa agreed to cooperate and led agents to Jimenez and
Hodge.

As Philips and Castillo went through Customs, agents also found 3 3/4
pounds of pills in each of their suitcases, Joseph wrote.

Through information from the others, Customs agents found Paula at a
hotel. A search of her suitcase revealed another three pounds of tablets.