POLICE SEIZE ECSTASY PILLS BELIEVED TO BE HEADED FOR LOCAL HIGH SCHOOLS

SYDNEY - Cape Breton Regional Police have seized 5,000 ecstasy pills
believed to be headed to local high schools.

Police estimate the street value of the green and blue tablets to be
$40,000.

O'Connell appeared in provincial court in Sydney yesterday, and has
been charged with one count of trafficking under the Controlled Drugs
and Substances Act. He has been remanded to the Cape Breton
Correctional Centre pending a bail hearing Monday.

Staff Sgt. Eugene MacLean said the regional police street crime drug
unit has been involved in the investigation for several months.

While it is unknown where the pills came from, information received by
police suggests they were destined for area high schools where they
are popular at teen dances.

"We're of the opinion that he's the only person involved. Where they
were manufactured, I'm not quite sure. I would believe that they were
from up the line in our province," said MacLean.

Ecstasy is a synthetic, mind-altering drug with amphetamine-like and
hallucinogenic properties. It is produced in illegal labs and can be
bought on the street for about $8 a hit.

"Because they're illegal labs the concentration can vary and we've had
information (that) young people ended up in comas because of it, you
can have a heart attack with it because of the drugs that are in it,"
said Sgt. Jerome Kelly of the street crime unit.

Kelly said teens are buying the pills because they are cheap, can give
a significant high, and may be easier to hide than alcohol. They are
also often easier to acquire than prescription pills.

Police report seeing students high on the drug at high school dances
and warn the drug can be extremely dangerous when mixed with alcohol.