HEROIN TURNS OUT TO BE ECSTASY

Value Of Drug Bust Greater Than Thought

CAMBRIDGE - Last week, Illinois State Police said they made the
largest heroin bust in District 7 history when they found two New
Jersey residents with 16 kilos - or 35 pounds - of the drug in Henry
County.

The only problem is it wasn't heroin.

This week, police said the drug was actually ecstasy. The charges
against the two men will remain the same, but the value of the seizure
skyrocketed from $1.5 million to $4 to $8 million, said Trooper Jason
Wilson, safety education officer for the state police.

Thomas S. Brennen, 32, Clementon, and Robert D. Huckel, 30, Bellmawr,
are being charged with two Class X felonies - controlled substance
trafficking and unlawful possession - as well as a Class 1 felony -
possession of a controlled substance.

The New Jersey pair was pulled over Aug. 22 for speeding on Interstate
80, approximately 6 miles west of Geneseo. After a vehicle search, the
two were arrested.

The drug found as part of the massive bust was first given a field
test, which is a good indicator to establish probable cause that the
substance is illicit. The field test indicated the drug was heroin.
Once state police tested it in a crime lab, however, they found it was
actually ecstasy, said Henry County State's Attorney Terry Patton.

"Some of the designer drugs ... can give you a false positive
reading," he said.

Ecstasy also typically comes in pill form, not powder, Wilson said.
Police who made the arrest found the powder wrapped in more than 15
individual bags.

Regardless, it didn't matter much to Patton which illegal drug they
found.

"They are both nasty, nasty drugs," he said.