Israeli crime syndicates push global trade in Ecstasy drug: DEA

By Tim Kennedy, Special to Arab News

Thursday, April 25, 2002 / 12 Safar 1423

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.

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