Reuters, New York, Wednesday, October 9, 2002:
Three
Israelis accused in New York of Ecstasy smuggle
NEW YORK, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Three Israeli
nationals were arrested and accused of trying to smuggle $42 million
worth of hallucinogenic Ecstasy pills to the United States from
Belgium, the largest such drug seizure ever in Europe, U.S.
authorities said on Wednesday.
The three men tried to smuggle 1.4 million pills inside diamond
polishing tables bound for New York by ship from Antwerp, according
to a statement from the office of Roslynn Mauskopf
[where
DO
they get these names], U.S. Attorney for the Eastern
District of New York.
Tipped off by witnesses who saw two of the men stuffing the pills
into three tables inside an Antwerp warehouse in August, authorities
allowed the tables to be delivered -- without the pills -- to New
York where they were put under surveillance.
The three men were arrested on Tuesday as they were retrieving the
tables and trying to deliver the drugs to a buyer, the statement
said. The case marks the largest Ecstasy seizure in Europe and the
third largest such seizure in the United States, with a wholesale
value of about $14 million and a retail value of about $42 million,
officials said.
Arrested were Nachshow Sinvanni, who allegedly wanted to
buy 900,000 of the pills for distribution; and Ofir Lebar and
Ofir Weizman, who were spotted packing the tables with drugs
in Belgium, officials said.
All three men live in Israel, authorities said. They each were
charged with conspiring to import MDMA, the technical name for
Ecstasy and, if convicted, face a possible prison sentence of 20
years and a $1 million fine.
