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}}}>Begin http://www.arabnews.com/SArticle.asp?sct=Tim%20kennedy&ID=14616 Israeli crime syndicates push global trade in Ecstasy drug: DEA By Tim Kennedy, Special to Arab News The stimulant drug 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) — popularly known as “Ecstasy” — is flooding the globe, finding favor among young abusers who crave its hallucinogenic effects. There is no accepted medical use for MDMA, but, according to a new study by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), “Israeli and Russian criminal groups now dominate MDMA smuggling to the United States.” The report adds: “Israeli organized crime syndicates has gained a foothold in the United States. Moreover, these organizations have proven to be capable of producing and smuggling significant quantities of MDMA from source countries in Europe to the United States, expanding from coast to coast, enabling a relatively few organizations to dominate MDMA markets nationwide.” MDMA was discovered in Germany in 1913 and patented by a pharmaceutical company in 1914. It was intended as a weight-loss drug, but because of its side- effects MDMA was never marketed. MDMA is taken orally, usually in tablet or capsule form, and its effects last approximately four to six hours. Abusers of the drug report feeling a heightened sense of awareness as well as a feeling of increased empathy or emotional closeness to others. The production of MDMA in clandestine laboratories, its increasing abuse among young people and evidence of adverse health effects, including brain damage, led to the DEA’s emergency classification of MDMA as an illegal drug in 1985. The DEA reports that Israeli organized crime syndicates — often working in partnership with Russian criminals — operate several clandestine MDMA laboratories operating throughout Western Europe, primarily the Netherlands and Belgium. The drug is manufactured in tablet, capsule or powder form. Raw materials are obtained from chemical supply companies for a few cents a pound. A kilogram of Ecstasy powder will yield 3,000 tablets. Drug dealers in the United States can sell a single dose of the drug for $30. The effects of long-term MDMA use are just beginning to undergo scientific analysis. In 1998, the National Institute of Mental Health conducted a study of a small group of habitual MDMA users who were abstaining from use. The study revealed that the abstinent users suffered damage to the neurons in the brain that transmit serotonin, an important biochemical involved in a variety of critical functions including learning, sleep and integration of emotion. The results of the study indicate that recreational MDMA users may be at risk of developing permanent brain damage that may manifest itself in depression, anxiety, memory loss, and other neuropsychotic disorders. Although the vast majority of MDMA consumed domestically is produced in Europe, a limited number of MDMA labs operate in the United States. In addition, in recent years, Israeli organized crime syndicates, some composed of Russian émigrés associated with Russian organized crime syndicates, have forged relationships with Western European traffickers and gained control over a significant share of the European market. According to the DEA, Israeli syndicates are currently the primary source to US distribution groups. Overseas MDMA trafficking organizations smuggle the drug in shipments of 10,000 or more tablets via express mail services, couriers aboard commercial airline flights, or, more recently, through air freight shipments from several major European cities to cities in the United States. According to the DEA, Israeli and Russian drug cartels are closely associated and often cooperate with one another. “Many of the Russian traffickers immigrated to Israel both before and after the fall of the Soviet Union,” says the DEA report. “Now many of the Israeli-Russian traffickers have acquired US citizenship.” The DEA says Israeli and Russian drug cartels use similar smuggling and concealment techniques, using couriers, express mail services, and sea containers. A review of DEA investigations dating back to 1997 shows that Israeli and Russian drug cartels have established MDMA importation hubs in Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC According to the DEA, both the Israelis and Russians “have developed a working relationship in the smuggling of MDMA to the United States.” Coming in Part Two: Training and recruitment of drug couriers. Send questions and comments to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.arabnews.com/SArticle.asp?sct=Tim%20kennedy&ID=14628 Training and recruitment of drug couriers By Tim Kennedy, Special to Arab News (Second in a three-part series) In the first article which appeared yesterday, we examined the origins of Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) — popularly known as “Ecstasy” — and the method of smuggling preferred by Israeli drug cartels. This segment focuses on the drug couriers. According to a new report by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), as Israeli drug cartels — working in tandem with their Russian partners — move MDMA from Europe to US hub cities and secondary midlevel wholesale distribution areas, they also move bulk cash back to the hub cities and smuggle a portion of the money back to Europe. One courier recruited by Israeli traffickers tells DEA investigators of seeing “stacks of cash from the United States” in safe houses in Belgium to be used as operating capital for additional pill purchases and expenses for European operations. Other couriers tell the DEA of smuggling MDMA into the United States through express mail services. American law enforcement officials believe this method may now be the most popular method among both Israeli and Russian whole-sale organizations. Express mail services have been increasingly used because of the relative security afforded the organization. The Israeli drug cartels commonly ship packages of MDMA directly from Europe to a recipient in the United States using a false name, which allows the recipient to deny knowledge of the contents of the package. The Israelis are able to track the shipment through each stage of the shipping process by accessing the express mail service’s Internet site and entering the package tracking number. If the package is stopped for an abnormal period of time at any stage, the Israelis will detect it and assume that authorities discovered the MDMA in the package and held it in order to obtain a search warrant or to coordinate a controlled delivery. The drug shipper will then abandon the package and avoid detection. When shipping pills through a mail service, reports the DEA, smugglers often put loose pills inside jigsaw puzzles to avoid x-ray detection. Groups will ship the pills anonymously to mailbox rental facilities. The DEA report also says the Israeli smuggling organizations favor using couriers to carry MDMA on commercial flights. Israeli and Russian drug cartels prefer using female couriers traveling on round-trip tickets usually purchased with cash approximately four days before the flight. The couriers conceal the pills in carry-on luggage with false bottoms. The DEA says the high level of structure and discipline within Israeli and Russian drug cartels is a strength noted by law enforcement experts. DEA analysts say members of these smuggling organizations show a strong respect for their leaders and a willingness to take and follow orders. Members also show a dedication to their assigned positions and an adherence to safeguards that greatly reduce the smuggling profile, including active surveillance, recruitment of female couriers, use of false identification and rented safe houses for couriers, and rigidly structured flight and hotel itineraries. Israeli and Russian Ecstasy smugglers employ couriers who primarily take direct flights from departure hubs in Europe-usually Amsterdam, Berlin, Bonn, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Madrid, and Paris-although they occasionally take indirect flights through Canada, Israel, Spain, and Mexico en route to the United States. The DEA investigators say the cartels prefer to use females, believing they draw less attention from law enforcement, although they also routinely use males and individuals of various cultural and ethnic groups. DEA case reporting shows that Israeli drug smugglers often have a member responsible not only for recruiting couriers, but also for coaching them through each stage of the smuggling operation. The recruiter often will obtain false identification or driver’s licenses for couriers and purchase round-trip tickets-with cash and usually within four days of the travel. A trip often will include a 2-to 4-day layover in Europe, where the courier will stay in a hotel paid for by the drug cartel before returning to the United States with the MDMA pills. According to DEA, Israeli recruiters have tried to reduce the risk to couriers by observing airport security procedures, especially at check-in and baggage pickup areas. Some Israeli drug smugglers have conducted as many as seven “dry runs” for new couriers to ensure they are able to operate calmly and successfully. Israeli and Russian drug cartels are disciplined in operational security and ensure that their couriers follow a well-established smuggling pattern. Coming in Part Three: Drug enforcement officials foresee huge growth in global Ecstasy trade. http://www.arabnews.com/SArticle.asp?sct=Tim%20kennedy&ID=14668 The global outlook for Ecstasy trade Tim Kennedy, Special to Arab News The last in a three-part series: Part two examined how Israeli drug cartels recruit and train of couriers of Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) — popularly known as “Ecstasy.” This final part looks at the global outlook for this illegal trade. In a recent report by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), investigators discovered that MDMA couriers operated by Israeli and Russian drug cartels are usually paid $1 for every pill smuggled. On average, couriers carry at least 10,000 pills on each trip, with the pills most often concealed in false-bottomed, soft-sided, carry-on luggage. Couriers generally know very little about the people from whom they receive the pills in Europe or the people to whom they deliver the pills in the United States. After the courier arrives in a hub distribution city, Israeli drug shippers sometimes direct the courier to a safe house rented by the smuggling organization. There, an organization member contacts the courier and either takes possession of the pills or directs the courier to another city. Eventually, the courier turns the pills over to the wholesale group, which delivers the pills to regular midlevel wholesale customers in the hub city and in other cities around the United States. Recent reports estimate that Israeli drug cartels smuggle over 2 million tablets into the US each week. Current estimates suggest that within the Newark, New York and the New Jersey Shore area, over 750,000 Ecstasy pills are consumed each week. According to the DEA, Israeli drug trafficking groups often exploit Belgium’s role as a major center in the international diamond trade. These traffickers often take advantage of their ethnic connections within the diamond-trading community in an effort to avoid detection by law enforcement officials. The connections to the diamond industry also provide Israeli traffickers with a well-established infrastructure in which to operate. In addition, custom-made luggage designed for transporting diamonds is readily available in Antwerp. This luggage is well-suited for use by drug traffickers smuggling Ecstasy. DEA sources say Israeli traffickers generally are young, well-educated, and multilingual, often with Hebrew/Yiddish, English, and Russian language ability. The groups are highly adaptable and mobile, maintaining contacts throughout Europe and internationally. They use a variety of technologies for communication purposes. While MDMA abuse currently is not as widespread as that of many other drugs, it nonetheless increased significantly — 500 percent — over a five-year period. The future prospects for the Israeli Ecstasy trade, according to the DEA, are upbeat — which is bad news for the law enforcement officials: “Given the increasingly global demand for the drug and the high profit potential derived from its sale, production will likely expand to other areas in the future. Despite concerted efforts by European legislators and law enforcement officials, as well as their counterparts around the world, Ecstasy will likely remain one of the principal drugs of demand in Europe and internationally.” Send questions and comments to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] End<{{{ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forwarded as information only; no automatic endorsement + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. 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