Pubdate: Sat, 25 Dec 1999 Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) Copyright: 1999 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Contact: http://www.seattle-pi.com/ Author: The Guardian GANGS SPREAD ECSTASY DRUG FOR BRITISH HOLIDAY PARTIES LONDON -- Drug dealers are flooding Britain with millions of dollars' worth of unstable ecstasy pills in preparation for the millennium celebration, investigators warn. The National Criminal Investigation Service believes that criminal gangs are shipping large amounts of the drug from the Netherlands to feed British demand for parties and raves between Christmas and New Year's Eve. British Customs officers have seized 715 pounds of ecstasy -- about 1.3 million tablets -- since October. That is more than its entire haul for 1998. Customs warned that many of the tablets, marked "M," "Y2K" and "2000," will be particularly dangerous because short cuts have been taken in the manufacturing process. The pills are being made in bulk, and some will be three or four times more powerful than normal, authorities said. "Our fear is that a lot of people might consider taking ecstasy for the first time on New Year's Eve because it is such a special occasion," an official said. Criminals in Britain have started setting up drug factories to make the pills. The investigation service said gangs are spending up to $157,000 to equip laboratories to produce the highest yields and have smuggled the chemical ingredients from China and Eastern Europe. One dealer hired a qualified chemist and paid him $15,000 a day, the source said. Eight synthetic drug factories have been discovered in Britain this year and 39 people arrested. "It is a high-profit, low-risk enterprise," the official said. "They are not interested in whether the drugs are safe or not, and the buyers can hardly go back to the manufacturer and complain. We believe dealers will be trying to sell these pills at every street party and celebration." Nick Wilson, head of the drug section at the investigation service, said millennium celebrations offered drug traffickers the perfect opportunity to expand their markets. "The festive season, with its emphasis on extended partying, has created an unprecedented demand for dangerous drugs, a demand that organized crime is only too happy to meet," he said. "The relentless criminal pursuit at any human cost has created a highly dangerous environment. People who buy illegal drugs have no way of knowing the true content of what they are buying." - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea