Lethal ecstasy pills sold in Israel
Nine Israelis were under arrest Thursday on suspicion of smuggling and distributing thousands of pills containing a life-threatening substance, police announced.
Police imposed a gag order on the case but said that the detainees were all senior underworld figures.
The discovery was made after an Israeli and three Japanese citizens were arrested in Holland in possession of 50,000 pills that appeared to be regular ecstasy.
The arrests were made following an investigation lasting several months and intelligence transferred to Dutch police by Israeli detectives. A member of the Israel Police's Central District Investigations Unit was sent to Holland to collect a sample of the pills for analysis. In an Israeli laboratory it was discovered that a portion of the pills contained the lethal ingredient.
On January 21, eight more people were arrested in central Israel on suspicion of involvement in the smuggling operation and their remands were extended until January 28. Upon searching the suspects' homes, police found large amount of money, numerous cellular phones, plane tickets and incriminating documents. They also seized four vehicles.
Police said that the pills were being sold in Israel, Thailand and Japan, mainly in nightclubs and that more arrests were expected.
They described the life-threatening pill as being florescent green with a smiley face etched into it.
Police added that the dangerous ingredient in the drug was the very same substance used by the US army to cause the leaves to fall from trees when clearing the jungles of Vietnam.
Two people exposed to the substance in Israel in the past had died, but it was unclear if the deaths were linked to the pills now being distributed.
Eli Korland from the Central District Police Investigations Unit said 48,000 ecstasy pills had been found, of which 3,000 were contaminated with the lethal substance. He said police suspected that many more of the pills had been distributed around the country but that the detainees were refusing to cooperate with police.
He said the pills were identical to regular ecstasy pills and urged the pubic to stay
well away from them.
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