Agents Seize 700 Pounds of ‘Ecstasy’ Drug

Drug agents seized 700 pounds of the hallucinogenic stimulant known as “ecstasy”--popularly used at raves and other all-night dance parties--and arrested six people who they said were responsible for its wholesale distribution in Southern California, federal authorities announced Thursday.

The bust was the largest ever in the United States involving the illegal, methamphetamine-based drug, said John Hensley, special agent in charge of the U.S. Customs office in Los Angeles.

He estimated the wholesale value of the drugs at $30 million, and said its street value was substantially more.

The seizure was striking, Hensley said, because drug agents have been ineffective in stopping the trafficking of ecstasy at the local level, where it is distributed and sold in serpentine ways. “It’s been like chasing bees but not getting to the hive,” Hensley said.

Although agents offered few details about the quick-moving investigation, they say they were tipped off to the arrival of about 100 pounds of ecstasy from France at the Federal Express shipment center in Memphis.

With the cooperation of Federal Express officials, the shipment was tracked to a beauty salon in Upland and followed to various undisclosed locations in Los Angeles.

On Wednesday, federal, state and San Bernardino County drug agents believed that they had followed the shipment as far as it was going and raided those locations.

The use of ecstasy has mushroomed in recent years, particularly among rave participants because a single tablet creates an hours-long euphoric high and sustains their energy for a night of dancing. Among the drug’s side effects, government health officials say, are liver and brain damage, and it immediately leads to elevated blood pressure and dehydration.

Also seized in the raids, which occurred Wednesday at a Westwood apartment building and storage lockers in Van Nuys, were $2.1 million in cash, five exotic sports cars and jewelry.

“This was big-time ecstasy smuggling,” Hensley said at a news conference at the San Bernardino County sheriff’s office.

Arrested and held on federal drug charges were John Ibrahim, 22, of Westwood and Amenah Jackson, 41, and Sonja McDaniel, 34, both of Hollywood.

Arrested on state drug charges were Tamara Pitman, 22, of Azusa and Lorissa Johnson, age unknown, and Lance White, 33, both of Fontana.

Agents said they anticipated that all six would be indicted on federal charges of importing and distributing a controlled substance, conspiracy and possibly money laundering. Each faces a minimum of 10 years in prison if convicted, authorities said.

The seizure of the cash and expensive cars indicated that the suspects had been in the ecstasy business for some time, agents said. Exactly where the suspects might fit into the distribution hierarchy is unclear, Hensley said, because the investigation has just begun.

Ecstasy is manufactured most often in European laboratories, although its traffickers have recently been associated with Israeli and Russian organized crime syndicates, according to U.S. Customs officials.

Users “don’t see [ecstasy] as bad,” said Trinka Porrata, a former Los Angeles Police Department narcotics investigator who is an expert on the drug. “You don’t get violent or crazy using it, like you do on methamphetamine, and you don’t get addicted to it. The kids can’t see the liver damage and can’t tell that when they use it, they’re clicking off a few more brain cells.”