FEDS BUST ECSTASY RINGS IN 2 STATES

Federal authorities announced Ecstasy busts Wednesday in Florida and
Pennsylvania that resulted in charges against seven men and the seizure of
800,000 tablets of the mood-altering club drug.

In Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., authorities said they seized 300,000 Ecstasy
tablets following a seven-month investigation, the state's second-largest
seizure of the drug.

Orel D. Linsen, 35, of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Gerardo A. Arango,
27, of Medellin, Colombia, were charged with possession with intent to
distribute the drug. They face up to life in prison, authorities said.

In Allentown, Pa., five men were indicted on charges of trying to smuggle
as many as 1 million of the pills into the United States from the
Netherlands, officials said Wednesday.

DEA agents seized 500,000 pills, the largest ever Ecstasy seizure in the
region, said Richard Manieri, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in
Philadelphia.

Two Dutch nationals and three U.S. citizens are each charged with one count
of conspiracy to import Ecstasy and one count of possession with intent to
distribute, according to court documents. They face up to 40 years in
federal prison.

Four defendants - Johan van der Wielen, 33, of Amstelveen, the Netherlands;
Peter Martell, 25, of Miami; Eric Imerman, 26, of Rocky Hill, N.J.; and
Timothy Reardon, 57, of Bethlehem, Pa. - are in custody in the United States.

U.S. officials are seeking to extradite Peter van Schaik, 40, from Holland.

It was not immediately clear whether any of the defendants had retained
attorneys.