Ecstasy's Early Years

Feds Accidentally Stumble Into Israeli Ring' In September 1999, two young case agents at the Drug Enforcement Administration and Federal Bureau of Investigation in Los Angeles got a tip about an ecstasy dealer and taped his phone. They got the bug. But instead of nailing a small-time dealer, they stumbled upon a major international Jewish ecstasy and cocaine distribution syndicate. They suddenly realized that ecstasy was bigger than cocaine. Today's Pushers Are Young And Sophisticated Tamer Adel Ibrahim, 26, a naturalized American who was born in Israel and moved to the States as a teenager. This jet-setting, high-rolling playboy, was buying cocaine from the Colombians, selling it for megabucks to Europeans, and then using those profits to buy millions of ecstasy tablets from the Netherlands to peddle in the United States. Israelis Take Over Red tide. Law enforcement officials say that the bust, dubbed Operation Red Tide, is the largest seizure of ecstasy in the United States and that Ibrahim, and his backers, were probably the largest alleged wholesaler of the drug to date. The case shows the rise of newly formed international, mostly Israeli and Russian, organized crime syndicates aggressively marketing ecstasy to Americans, mainly in their teens and 20s. Ecstasy Starts Out As A drug For Married Couples Ecstasy was originally prescribed by marriage counselors in the 1970s because of its supposed ability to bring out the warm and fuzzy feelings that couples had for each other (hence its nickname: "the hug drug"). Israelis Push It On Kids What's most worrisome, say officials, is that younger and younger Americans are trying it. Today, the use of ecstasy is growing faster than any other illegal drug in the United States. A University of Michigan survey conducted last year indicates that 1.3 million of the nation's students in grades eight through 12 have tried ecstasy at least once and that almost 450,000 students currently use it. Long Term Effects Users like to say the drug is risk free. Not so, say experts, who point to some serious side effects. The problem is that researchers have yet to definitively determine whether there are any long-term medical ills. Draws In The Worst Of The Worst But law enforcement officials aren't taking any chances. "It could be worse than cocaine. We just don't know," says DEA's Christopher Giovino. He classifies these Jews as a super volatile lot. Giovino says, the upscale white gentile crowd will pay $50 a pop. DEA Grabbed Some Big Israelis The Israeli/Russian Jews are fast learners. Authorities say they would ship loads of ecstasy from Amsterdam to Los Angeles by way of France, Korea, and Mexico, usually via Federal Express. Ibrahim would then allegedly monitor the drug shipments on the Internet using FedEx's package tracking system. Netherlands Labs More than 90 percent of the ecstasy on the U.S. market comes from the Netherlands and Belgium, where the drug is also illegal, although Romania and Poland now are becoming players. Robert Gagne, a DEA agent on Long Island says these Israelis Jews have always had a history step in smuggling, and they know all the tricks. They have been smuggling Belgium diamonds for centuries. Hasidic Were Always Smugglers In Amsterdam, Erez allegedly built a giant ecstasy smuggling ring using more than a dozen young Hasidic Jews as his couriers because their innocent demeanor and conservative appearance got them past airport security. Nouveau Rich Yesterday Irv was an overweigh Bubeleh, whose mother yelled because he never used toilet paper. Today Irving is driving a $100,000 Mercedes and going out with blond shiksas. Thank God For Jewish Judges In New York, so many Hasidic Jews are being arrested as couriers that a federal judge in Brooklyn blew a gasket during a March sentencing hearing for one Hasidic teenager who was involved in the giant smuggling ring allegedly run by Erez. DEA agents were fed up with Hasdics getting off with community service. Prosecutors Never Push The Cases They always go out of there way to avoid hurting one of their own.