CITY COUPLE FACE FEDERAL DRUG CONSPIRACY

Indictment -- Methamphetamine Component Shipped, Agency Says

An Oklahoma City couple bought millions of tablets of a legal chemical that
they later knowingly shipped to California methamphetamine labs, federal
charges allege.

At the request of federal prosecutors, Chief U.S. District Judge David L.
Russell on Thursday froze assets of more than $4.3 million in banks spread
from Sapulpa to Amman, Jordan, that are tied to a 29-count indictment
naming five defendants.

An investigation led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration traces the
drug operation to five states. Enough of the legal chemical pseudoephedrine
was shipped to make 3,000 pounds of methamphetamine, court documents show.

A federal grand jury indictment alleges Randa and Suhail Saffo of Oklahoma
City were part of a conspiracy to buy pseudoephedrine, generally used as a
sinus medicine, and divert it to illegal drug-making labs.

Randa Saffo, 37, said she and her husband, 49, did not want to comment on
the charges. She was contacted at her shop, Randa's Hair Design, 9105 N
Council, from which she is alleged to have directed some of the drug
shipments.

The indictment also alleges Richard Kevin Day, 40, of Sapulpa was part of
the conspiracy to funnel the ingredient to drug labs. Day's Sapulpa
business, Novel Ideas, a convenience store supplier, is alleged to have
bought the sinus medicine in bulk for the Saffos, an indictment said.

Mack Martin, Day's Oklahoma City attorney, said his client plans to plead
not guilty at an arraignment Tuesday.

"We expect to be totally exonerated," he said.

Also named in the indictment are Nouhad Rached "Nick" El-Hajjaoui, 30, of
San Dimas, Calif., and Mohammed Abdul Majid, 37, of Burbank, Calif.

Randa Saffo is accused of ordering more than 40 million tablets of the
sinus medicine from M&K OTC Inc., also known as Gemini Inc., a Bohemia,
N.Y., maker of pseudoephedrine.

The purchases, however, were made through straw buyers, including Novel
Ideas, and purposely designed to hide the Saffos' involvement, the
indictment said.

"Numerous quantities of these shipments have been discovered and seized at
methamphetamine lab or dump sites in California," an affidavit signed by
DEA agent Katherine Chaney said.

Buyers of the legal sinus medicine must be registered with the federal
government. It is legal to buy and sell, but sellers may not knowingly
distribute the drug to people who plan to make illegal methamphetamine.

The Saffos, El-Hajjaoui and Day are alleged to have created false customer
listings for companies in Arizona for the California shipments, the
indictment said.

Majid was a delivery truck driver who cooperated with authorities after he
was arrested in California in November 1997, an affidavit said.

Charges in the indictment include conspiracy to illegally distribute a
listed chemical, money laundering and trying to structure bank transactions
to evade mandatory reporting requirements.

Randa Saffo is alleged to have laundered more than $830,000 in proceeds
from the operation, the indictment said. Day is alleged to have laundered
more than $500,000.

Russell's restraining order directs banks and other financial institutions
to freeze the five defendants' assets, up to an aggregate amount of about
$4.3 million.

The various assets are spread worldwide, including at banks in Sapulpa and
Oklahoma City and overseas accounts in Paris, London, Singapore and the
United Arab Emirates.

Randa Saffo is a naturalized American citizen from Jordan. Her husband is a
native of Iraq.

Authorities also have investigated Pamela and Marvin Lathan, who own
Pamela's, a skin and facial care shop at 8401 N Rockwell, a complaint
affidavit said.

The Saffos allegedly asked the Lathans to register with the DEA as
pseudoephedrine distributors so the tablets could be shipped to the skin
care shop, the complaint said. The Lathans, who have not been charged, were
told the "cold medication" would be shipped to Arizona stores, it said.

The indictment said the conspiracy has existed since at least January 1997.

Checked-by: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)