Authorities break up Netherlands-to-Atlanta Ecstasy ring

ATLANTA - Police have arrested 15 people suspected of making millions of pills of the club drug Ecstasy in the Netherlands and shipping them to Atlanta for sale. <br> <br> U.S. Attorney Bill Duffy on Friday announced the arrests were made in Georgia, Tennessee and Spain this week after a grand jury returned a 13-count indictment. Three men named in the indictment remain at large. <br> <br> Agents seized nearly 95,000 tablets of the drug - with a street value of at least $1.9 million - in Canada, Georgia and Tennessee, Duffy said. Authorities believe the drug ring distributed more than a million pills over the past year. <br> <br> ``These are huge, large-scale operations operated in the Netherlands,&#39;&#39; said W. Michael Furgason Sr., special agent in charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration. ``They&#39;re very sophisticated.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The suspects have been linked to the Israeli and Russian mafia, Furgason said. <br> <br> Many of the pills were manufactured in Amsterdam and transported to Montreal, investigators said. Then they were driven across the Canadian border bound for the nightclubs and streets of Atlanta. <br> <br> ``This drug is not the feel-good elixir the public, and especially young people, have been led to believe,&#39;&#39; Duffy said. ``This is a drug that has literally invaded our youth culture.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, is a mild hallucinogenic stimulant that&#39;s mostly imported from Europe. Overdoses on the drug can cause hypothermia or excessive body heat and possible death. <br> <br> The arrests resulted from a two-year investigation dubbed ``Operation X-Men.&#39;&#39; Most of the drugs were seized in Canada. The tablets in Atlanta were found in suburban Henry and Cobb counties. <br> <br> The suspected leader of the ring is Stephen Ashley House of Atlanta. <br> <br> One of the three fugitives, Chuck McMurtry, is believed to be hiding in the Atlanta area. The other two, Marco Olyves and Cameron Odom, may be in Europe. <br> <br> Also arrested were Ben Vasseghi, Ronnie Loggins, Jerry Haywood, Chuck Hill, Rafael Ibrigamov, Phillip Edwards, Gabor Hadju, Brant Conley, Sal Deangelo, John Turner, John Dunlap, Jeff Stone, Kel Munroe and Mike Cardin.

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