TOLEDO DEVELOPER CALLED 'OPERATIVE' IN FLORIDA DRUG RING

Indictment Is Shock To Friends

Mark Nowakowski was at the top of his game.

The Toledo-area developer had just sold one of the last lots of his upscale
housing project in Springfield Township and was spending much of his time
in a $700,000 condo in Miami Beach.

With a sweeping view of the water and celebrity night spots, the
44-year-old entrepreneur had realized his dreams, say friends.

But while he was shuttling between Toledo and South Florida, he was quietly
embarking on a new career, say federal prosecutors: distributing the
illegal drug Ecstasy.

The developer is now ensnarled in Miami Beach's highest profile drug case -
the same case that led to the search of O.J. Simpson's home in suburban
Miami two weeks ago.

"This is a shocker. He builds nice homes. He's a hard worker. I can't
imagine this happening to Mark," said former high school classmate John
Westhoven, a Toledo insurance executive.

Released last week from jail in Miami on a $100,000 bond, Mr. Nowakowski is
accused of taking part in an international ring that imported large amounts
of the drug Ecstasy from Holland in the last two years.

Charged with drug conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute, he
faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

He did not return several phone calls left at his family business in
Springfield Township, where he returned after his release from jail. His
lawyer, Stephen Pave of Miami, did not return calls.

Prosecutors allege the popular Toledo developer is among 11 defendants who
distributed the mood-altering drug in South Florida, especially among the
club-goers in one of the nation's premier winter hot spots: South Beach.

The strip of Art Deco hotels and night clubs in Miami Beach has long been
one of the country's most notorious areas for recreational drugs and dance
clubs that stay open until dawn.

He and the others were arrested on Dec. 4 as part of a FBI investigation
known as Operation X - an effort to stem the flow of Ecstasy into area
clubs and high schools. The probe expanded to include alleged
satellite-dish fraud and money laundering.

"This case represents the disruption and dismantling of a significant drug
trafficking organization," said Miami's U.S. attorney, Guy Lewis.

The investigation attracted national attention when FBI agents searched the
home of O.J. Simpson on Dec. 4 after they allegedly heard the ex-football
star in wiretapped phone conversations with another defendant in the ring.

Mr. Simpson was heard talking with the suspect - the owner of a massage
parlor - about buying Ecstasy for himself and his "lady friends," according
to published reports. No drugs were found during the search.

Prosecutors said Mr. Simpson knew members of the suspected drug operation,
but it's not clear if he knew Mr. Nowakowski.

The FBI probe is the latest investigation into groups that sell Ecstasy, a
synthetic, psychoactive substance that's said by the White House to be the
fastest growing illegal drug in the nation.

With its hallucinogenic and stimulant properties, it has been a popular
drug among young people at so-called rave parties for several years. But
its side-effects can be harmful, say doctors and law enforcement agents.

In Miami-Dade County, a dozen people have died from complications caused by
the drug since 1999.

"It's been a big problem down here for a long time," said Judy Orihuela, a
spokeswoman for the Miami FBI. "In the past few years, it's really become
the drug of choice."

The recent crackdown represents one of the longest investigations ever
waged in the Miami area into the inner workings of an alleged Ecstasy
smuggling ring, according to the FBI. Based in Miami Beach, the drug
operation reached all the way to Amsterdam, New York, and Chicago, records
state.

The federal grand jury indictment against the suspects was made public in
Miami on Dec. 4, but it's unclear what specific role Mr. Nowakowski played
in the alleged scheme.

Court records state the Toledo native "did knowingly and intentionally
combine, conspire, confederate, and agree" with the other suspects "to
possess with intent to distribute" the drug between Aug. 13, 1999, and Nov.
27, 2001.

The court documents identify Mr. Nowakowski as an operative of the
organization, but not a ringleader.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Miami said most of the
defendants were discovered in wiretapped phone conversations - and later
trailed by undercover agents at night clubs and luxury high rises.

To be sure, FBI agents paint a picture of a classic South Florida crime
story: drugs, prostitutes, and money laundering - with some of the ring
leaders from the Caribbean and South America.

It began in 1999, when the FBI says it infiltrated the alleged operation,
and identified the two leaders, Jose Theriaga, 27, and Carlos Braga, 34.

Using information from confidential informants, the FBI says that Mr.
Theriaga laundered nearly $550,000 over two years - the money coming from
the Ecstasy sales, court records state.

The FBI says the drug operation was headquartered in a posh high-rise
apartment on Miami Beach, less than a mile from Mr. Nowakowski's condo.

According to sworn statements, the operation worked like this:

Members of the drug ring would travel to Holland - one of the main sources
of the world's Ecstasy - and would ship or smuggle the drug to Miami.

The two leaders bragged to undercover agents they knew the best smuggling
routes through Europe, say prosecutors.

After bringing the drug to America, it would be sold in bulk or by the pill
in Miami, New York, and Chicago. One pill can fetch up to $20 on the streets.

In taped conversations with an FBI informant, Mr. Braga said he would be
able to supply the informant with as many as 100,000 pills a month.

During the investigation, FBI agents say they learned that one of the drug
ring defendants, Andrew Anderson, 33, a Jamaican national, was the owner of
an alleged massage parlor in Miami called Euphoria.

FBI agents say they suspect the business was a prostitution front, but do
not provide any details.

Using telephone eavesdropping devices, investigators discovered one of the
people phoning the owner of the massage parlor and asking about Ecstasy was
O.J. Simpson. He was also seen going into the parlor.

FBI agents say Mr. Simpson, who was acquitted in 1994 in the murder of his
wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, is not a suspect
in the case.

The FBI did not say how much money the group allegedly reaped over the last
two years, but suspect that as much as $7 million was stashed in a safe in
the high-rise headquarters two weeks ago. Agents searched the unit. But did
not say what - if anything - was found.

The suspects, including Mr. Nowakowski, were arrested by the FBI on Dec. 4.
Mr. Barga was nabbed in Miami after trying to sell an undercover agent
8,000 Ecstasy tablets, and Mr. Theriaga is believed to be in his native
Brazil. Two others were arrested in Chicago.

In a twist to the investigation, a grand juror in the case was arrested
last week after tipping off a female defendant about the probe.

Several people in Toledo who know Mr. Nowakowski say they were surprised by
his arrest.

A former honors student and football player at St. Francis De Sales High
School, he began developing housing subdivisions with his family in the
1980s, including Zenon Woods in Sylvania, records show.

In 1981, he formed a company to rent hot tubs, and several years ago broke
ground on The Bluffs development in Springfield Township.

"I consider him a good developer," said John Nagy, a senior planner with
the Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commission. "He tries to do those few extra
things in his homes that make them aesthetically pleasing."

Records show he had two brushes with the law in the Toledo area: Last year,
he was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in Sylvania, and
was sentenced to six days in jail and ordered to pay a $550 fine.

In 1995, he was charged by Toledo police with criminal damaging after
denting the fender of a woman's car, but the case was dismissed by
prosecutors after he agreed to pay $43 in damages.

Friends knew something was wrong with the developer last week when he
failed to show up for the sales closing of a home he was selling.

Turns out, he was still in the federal detention facility in Miami until
his bond release on Tuesday evening.

Days before his arrest, he attended the St. Francis state football
championship game in Massillon.

"I said hello to him at the game," recalled Mr. Westhoven, who graduated
with the suspect from St. Francis in 1975.

Mr. Westhoven said he's still perplexed about his ex-classmate's arrest.
"To me, he was always an outstanding guy, outgoing, and I would say
successful."

The Miami U.S. attorney's office said the alleged roles of the defendants
will be spelled out as the case moves through the courts.

What's important for now, said Ms. Orihuela, a spokeswoman for the office.
"is that we shut down a large organization."