ARRESTS THWART DELIVERY OF ECSTASY TO AREA

Nine suspects face indictments in U.S. District Court Don Walker / The
Times Posted on February 28, 2002 A six-month investigation culminated in
the arrest of nine members of an alleged international smuggling ring and
thwarted delivery of an estimated $3.5 million of the drug ecstasy - some
of it bound for Northwest Louisiana.

All of the suspects named in a federal indictment handed up in U.S.
District Court in Shreveport were in custody Wednesday. Two suspects are
being held in Amsterdam awaiting extradition to Louisiana, U.S. Attorney
Donald Washington said.

Ecstasy is a stimulant and a mild hallucinogenic known as a "club drug,"
most commonly sold at nightclubs and rave parties, Washington said.

The arrests followed a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency-led task force
investigation that began in September. The task force also included
officers of Louisiana state police, the Caddo, Bossier and Natchitoches
sheriff's offices and the Shreveport, Bossier City and Natchitoches police
departments.

The investigation focused on the smuggling of ecstasy from Europe to
Louisiana and other southeastern states.

The investigation first was made public in November, when four suspects
were indicted in connection with the shipment of 5,000 tablets of ecstasy
from Europe to Natchitoches. The ongoing probe subsequently led to nine
additional arrests on charges of conspiracy and possession with intent to
distribute.

Those charged are Lowray Matthew Chachere, 24, of Many, Michael Wayne Cobb,
20, of Natchitoches, Colby Joseph Hebert, 21, of Abbeville, Trent Parker
Harrell, 22, and Paul Powell, 20, both of Baton Rouge, Christopher Neal
Carmon, 20, of Gulf Breeze, Fla., and Dutch nationals Widad Sitti, 23,
Hakimi Hamimi, 26, and Barka Ettarfass, 31.

If convicted, each faces 20 years in jail, $1 million in fines or both.

One of the suspects was arrested in Shreveport in November, when she
traveled from Amsterdam to the United States to collect payment for a
shipment of ecstasy and to arrange future shipments, Washington said. It
was at that time that agents, who had wired a hotel room in Bossier City,
obtained audio of Sitti and Chachere allegedly discussing a future shipment
of 100,000 pills at $8 per tablet for the first 10,000 and $6.50 per tablet
for the remainder.

Ecstasy is sold for $30 to $35 per tablet at nightclubs and raves, said
Bill Grant, DEA supervisor in Shreveport.

"It's very prevalent in the Shreveport-Bossier City area, especially with
young adults and teen-agers," said substance abuse counselor Mary Walden of
The Center for Families on Olive Street.

"A lot of these young adults call it 'the hugging drug.' They also call it
'lover's speed,'" she said. "They will take it and go to a rave party, and
they say it enhances their dancing and their visual conception of lights
and music."

Walden said the drug is highly addictive and dangerous and causes mood,
emotional, learning and memory problems as well as increased heart rate,
increased blood pressure and irregular heartbeat. She has counseled young
adults who have spent as much as $200 on ecstasy in a single weekend and
suffered seizures and other health problems.

"I would be very concerned as a parent. Parents need to be proactive with
their children - know where they are, who they're with, what they're doing.
Pay attention to how they're reacting, are they having weight loss, maybe
sleeping too much, or are they irritable, restless or having memory loss."

Grant said it has not been determined how much of the ecstasy was
distributed in Shreveport, Bossier City and Natchitoches.

"The goal was to completely cut off the pipeline of ecstasy," he said.
"We've been able to eliminate this pipeline."

But there likely are other pipelines out there, Washington said.

"We have made a big impact. But I seriously doubt we've come close to
totally cutting off the pipeline. We still have a lot of work to do."