COLUMBIA FIVE IN 'IVY' STING

Five Columbia University students have been snared in an undercover
drug sting dubbed "Operation Ivy League." They stand accused of
selling a menu of narcotics out of fraternity houses and on-campus
residences, authorities said Tuesday.

Each of the five students in the apparently well-coordinated network
allegedly specialized in selling a certain type of drug, authorities
said. During a five-month investigation, undercover New York Police
Department officers made 31 purchases from the students, totaling
nearly $11,000, said Bridget Brennan, the city's special narcotics
prosecutor.

According to Ms. Brennan, the sales took place in the common areas or
bedrooms of three fraternities and two dorms and involved the peddling
of cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy, Adderall and LSD, the latter of which
was sometimes used to lace Altoids or Sweet Tarts candy.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the bust was the biggest at a
college "in recent memory." He said the investigation began after a
tip from a confidential source. A law-enforcement official with
knowledge of the case said at least one student came forward to police
with information about the narcotics exchange at the school.

The sting also resulted in the arrest of nonstudents who are accused
of supplying the drugs to the alleged Columbia dealers, authorities
said.

Police identified the students as [name redacted], [name2 redacted],
[name3 redacted], [name4 redacted], all 20 years old, and [name5
redacted], 22. All were arrested Tuesday and were awaiting arraignment
on several counts of criminal sale of narcotics and criminal nuisance
charges, police said.

Attorney information for the suspects was not immediately
available.

Columbia released a statement in which it stated that "the alleged
behavior of the students involved in this incident goes against not
only state and federal law, but also University policy...."

A spokesman said Columbia would not be commenting further.

Police said the sales took place at the fraternity houses of Alpha
Epsilon Pi, Pi Kappa Alpha and Psi Upsilon. Mr. [name1 redacted]
allegedly sold marijuana from his dorm room at the Intercultural House
and Mr. [name5 redacted] operated out of his dorm room at East Campus
Housing, police said.

Officers recovered a bottle of LSD, 50 ecstasy capsules, 15 Adderall
pills and more than half a pound of marijuana in addition to about
$2,000 in cash, police said.

"This is no way to work your way through college," Mr. Kelly
said.

The law-enforcement official said that Mr. [name1 redacted] told
arresting officers he was selling the drugs to help pay for school.

The three people accused of supplying the students with the drugs were
identified as [name6 redacted] and his girlfriend, [name7 redacted],
both of the East Village, and [name8 redacted] of the Kingsborough
Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Their attorneys could not
immediately be reached for comment.