Pubdate: Sun, 01 Jul 2001
Source: Bergen Record (NJ)
Copyright: 2001 Bergen Record Corp.
Contact:  http://www.bergen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/44
Author: Mitchel Maddux
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

FIGHTING ECSTASY GETS NEW PRIORITY

Federal drug officials are creating a statewide computer database to 
combat Ecstasy trafficking in New Jersey, an intelligence system said 
to be the first of its kind in the nation.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's New Jersey database will 
contain information from local law enforcement agencies on all 
Ecstasy dealers and distributors arrested in the state and on 
patterns of the drug's sale. It also will catalog the different types 
of the drug and allow DEA chemists to use sophisticated scientific 
methods to trace manufacturers.

"It will not only assist the counties and state agencies, but because 
there are hundreds of local police departments in New Jersey, we will 
be able to provide assistance in coordinating Ecstasy law enforcement 
operations throughout the state," Anthony D. Cammarato, special agent 
in charge of the DEA's New Jersey Field Division, said in an 
interview.

The development of an intelligence system dedicated solely to Ecstasy 
trafficking suggests that authorities fear the growing popularity of 
the "feel-good" drug in New Jersey has outpaced efforts to thwart its 
distribution. Once seen primarily in metropolitan-area nightclubs, 
Ecstasy use has now been reported in each of the state's 21 counties, 
Cammarato said.

The DEA's New Jersey database will resemble one that European police 
agencies use to coordinate their efforts against criminal 
organizations that make and distribute the drug. Most Ecstasy tablets 
are produced in illegal laboratories in Europe, where the drug first 
achieved popularity.

Cammarato said the intelligence system grew out of requests from 
local officials for the DEA's assistance. The impetus behind it was 
the notion that improved communication between New Jersey's many law 
enforcement agencies could help step up the fight against Ecstasy 
traffickers.

Information will be contributed by local, county, state, and federal 
law enforcement agencies, and then analyzed by DEA experts, he said.

"We are in the process of gathering data now," said Cammarato, who 
devised the system.

The system will contain names and biographical details of people 
arrested on charges of Ecstasy trafficking in New Jersey -- where 
they operate, details about their cars, and what types of tablets 
they sell. DEA analysts will then study the data to discern trends 
associated with the drug.

"We can determine what areas are showing the most increases in 
Ecstasy use," Cammarato said.

Then local and other law enforcement resources can be deployed to 
attack the problem, Cammarato said.

A key element of the DEA database will be a collection of the varied 
logos that Ecstasy producers stamp on tablets sold in New Jersey. 
Such designs are often well-known symbols borrowed illegally from the 
legitimate business world, such as Mercedes-Benz emblems or Disney 
characters.

The drug's producers use the logos to distinguish their Ecstasy 
tablets from those made by competitors. And to differentiate their 
product and attract repeat customers, illicit manufacturers often 
devise tablet formulas that offer something more than sensations 
induced by Ecstasy -- occasionally mixing in other drugs such as 
amphetamines.

"Some users like certain logos because of the difference in highs 
produced," Cammarato said. "Some logos [denote Ecstasy tablets that] 
have different adulterants to give certain side effects. It's 
marketing. That's why they have the brand-name concept."

By tracking the Ecstasy logos available in New Jersey, the DEA hopes 
to trace the tablets back to their source.

"What we find is that dealers sell specific logos," Cammarato said. 
"We'll be able to use the pills to identify the distributors."

The logos found on Ecstasy tablets that are listed on the DEA's New 
Jersey database can then be compared to information compiled by the 
agency's national testing laboratory in northern Virginia, he said.

DEA chemists test Ecstasy tablets to gauge their purity and 
composition. They also examine them under powerful microscopes using 
techniques similar to those used in the ballistic identification of 
bullets and firearm shell casings.

When pill machines stamp logos on Ecstasy tablets, they leave behind 
microscopic marks that are highly distinct, similar to fingerprints. 
The tiny imperfections are made by scratches or other blemishes on 
the surface of metal punches or dies used in the tablet-manufacturing 
process.

These distinct marks give authorities the chance to trace the tablet's origin.

When law enforcement authorities encounter Ecstasy shipments, such 
information as the time, place, and circumstances surrounding the 
seizure is recorded by the DEA. Then, agency chemists analyze the 
tablets to find out whether they were made by a laboratory that has 
already been identified. This helps identify smuggling routes and 
trafficking patterns.

Conceivably, an Ecstasy tablet sold in a nightclub last week at the 
New Jersey shore can be traced back to the manufacturer of a shipment 
seized in March by police at a Paris airport, and from there lead 
back to an illegal laboratory in the Netherlands, experts said. Such 
information can be compared to other Ecstasy trafficking cases and 
shared with DEA agents stationed overseas, who coordinate their 
efforts with law enforcement agencies in 56 countries around the 
globe.

"So, the seizure of a couple hundred Ecstasy pills in a New Jersey 
town can ultimately result in not only identifying the distributors, 
but also the manufacturer, domestically and internationally," 
Cammarato said. "It could wind up immobilizing an entire Ecstasy 
organization."

A similar database has been operating in western Europe for five 
years, and officials there say it has been very helpful in the fight 
against Ecstasy trafficking.

"We try to collect all the bits and pieces of information related to 
the trafficking of Ecstasy inside the European Union,"said Jurg 
Moelling, deputy head of the drug section at Europol. The cooperative 
multinational law enforcement organization serves the 15 member 
countries of the EU.

"If you very carefully analyze intelligence information, you realize 
certain distribution patterns, and you identify certain modus 
operandi," he said in a telephone interview from Europol's 
headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. "We have an overview of 
what's on the market and how distribution is developing," he said. 
"If you compare time and place, you can really see a lot."
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MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe