Authorities Seize 100,000 Ecstasy Tablets In Rosemead Raids
Tablets' Street Value Estimated At $2M
POSTED: 6:03 pm PDT October 29, 2007
UPDATED: 6:11 pm PDT October 29, 2007

ROSEMEAD, Calif. -- About 100,000 Ecstasy tablets with an estimated street value of more than $2 million were seized in Rosemead in what was called one of the largest seizures in the Los Angeles area in recent years, authorities said Monday.

Monterey Park police and sheriff's deputies aided the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement and California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement in seizing three duffel bags hidden inside an 8-by-10-foot self-storage unit on Friday, said Robert Schoch, special agent in charge of ICE's Los Angeles office.

About 35,000 Ecstasy tablets were seized in previous raids over the last three months.

Eleven people have been arrested, including the suspected ringleader, Jian Dong Mai, 51, of Rosemead, which is about 10 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

Mai is a Chinese national being held without bond on federal charges of distributing a controlled substance.

Ten other suspects have been arrested. Six are facing federal charges and four are being prosecuted on state charges.

The seizure was part of an ICE-led investigation into several San Gabriel Valley-based criminal organizations involved in smuggling large quantities of Ecstasy and MDMA, another contraband drug.

"This is one of the largest Ecstasy seizures in the Los Angeles area in recent years," Schoch said. "The size of this seizure is a clear sign that this probe has succeeded in dismantling several significant local Ecstasy smuggling rings."

California Attorney General Jerry Brown called it "particularly troublesome that some of these drug dealers with college students, breaking the law in between classes."

The seized Ecstasy was taken to Drug Enforcement Administration labs for analysis.
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