MDMA

National Drug Intelligence Center
Florida Drug Threat Assessment
July 2003

MDMA (also known as ecstasy, Adam, E, X, and XTC) frequently is widely available and abused in Florida. The drug is most prevalent in or near large metropolitan areas including Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa and in cities with major colleges or universities such as Gainesville and Tallahassee. MDMA increasingly is available in smaller cities and towns throughout the state. Most MDMA available in Florida is produced in the Netherlands and Belgium; however, MDMA sometimes is produced locally. Israeli and Russian DTOs and criminal groups are the dominant transporters of MDMA into Florida. Western European, Caribbean, Colombian, Dominican and, to a lesser extent, U.S.-based Caucasian criminal groups also transport significant quantities of MDMA into Florida. Most of the MDMA transported into Florida is smuggled from source or transit countries by couriers on passenger airlines or via package delivery services. MDMA occasionally is smuggled aboard maritime vessels arriving from foreign countries, by air freight, or is transported in commercial and private vehicles from other states. South Florida is a regional distribution center for wholesale quantities of MDMA. Israeli, Russian, Colombian, and Western European DTOs and criminal groups are the primary wholesale distributors of MDMA in Florida. Dominican, other Caribbean and, to a lesser extent, U.S.-based Caucasian criminal groups also distribute wholesale quantities of MDMA in Florida. Wholesale distributors typically supply multithousand-tablet quantities of MDMA to midlevel distributors who, in turn, supply up to multihundred-tablet quantities to retail distributors. Local independent Caucasian dealers are the primary retail distributors of MDMA in Florida; however, African American criminal groups, gangs, and local independent dealers are increasingly involved in the retail distribution of MDMA. Distributors are usually upper- and middle-class Caucasian teenagers and young adults who often abuse MDMA as well. They typically distribute MDMA tablets at raves or techno parties, private parties, nightclubs, and on high school and college campuses.

Abuse

MDMA, a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, is a stimulant with mild hallucinogenic properties. It is readily available in Florida and continues to be more commonly abused than any other club drug in the state. Sometimes called the hug drug, abusers claim that the drug helps them to be more "in touch" with others and "opens channels of communication." However, abuse of the drug can cause psychological problems similar to those associated with methamphetamine and cocaine abuse including confusion, depression, sleeplessness, anxiety, and paranoia. The physical effects can include muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, blurred vision, and increased heart rate and blood pressure. MDMA abuse also can cause a marked increase in body temperature leading to muscle breakdown, kidney failure, cardiovascular system failure, stroke, or seizure as reported in some fatal cases. Researchers suggest MDMA abuse may result in long-term and sometimes permanent damage to parts of the brain that are critical to thought and memory.

MDMA Abuse at Raves and Techno Parties

Throughout the 1990s high energy, all-night dances known as raves or techno parties that feature hard-pounding techno music and flashing laser lights, increased in popularity among teenagers and young adults. Raves occur in most metropolitan areas of the country. They can be held at either permanent dance clubs or temporary weekend event sites set up in abandoned warehouses, open fields, empty buildings, or civic centers. MDMA is one of the most popular drugs used at raves. Rave managers often sell water, pacifiers, and glow sticks at rave parties. "Ravers" drink water to offset dehydration caused by MDMA; use pacifiers to prevent the grinding of teeth, which is a common side effect of abusing MDMA; and wave glow sticks in front of their eyes because MDMA stimulates light perception.

The number of MDMA-related deaths and ED mentions indicate that MDMA is frequently abused in Florida. According to the 2001 Report of Drugs Identified in Deceased Persons by Florida Medical Examiners, there were 92 deaths in the state in 2001 in which MDMA was detected in the decedent's body. According to DAWN data, the number of MDMA-related ED mentions in Miami increased from 28 in 1997 to 184 in 2001. The rate of MDMA-related ED mentions per 100,000 population in Miami likewise increased from one in 1997 to nine in 2001. In 2001 Miami ranked second after San Francisco (10) in the rate of MDMA-related ED mentions among 21 metropolitan areas reporting to DAWN.

Caucasian teenagers and young adults are the primary abusers of MDMA in Florida. Various federal, state, and local law enforcement officials report that most Caucasian abusers in Florida are between the ages of 16 and 30. They also report that the level of MDMA abuse by African Americans, particularly college students, in Florida is increasing.

Federal, state, and local law enforcement officials and treatment providers report that some MDMA abusers in Florida take three to five MDMA tablets at a time, a practice referred to as stacking. These officials also report that some MDMA abusers, particularly college students, combine MDMA with LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), a practice referred to as trolling. Further, the Miami-based Up Front Drug Information Center reports that MDMA often is taken in conjunction with benzodiazepines and other prescription drugs as abusers attempt to alleviate the stimulant effects of MDMA in a practice referred to as candy flipping.

Several treatment officials report that some MDMA abusers are now snorting or injecting the drug. Those who inject the drug are primarily intravenous heroin abusers or friends and acquaintances of intravenous heroin abusers.

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Availability

MDMA frequently is available in Florida, particularly in or near large metropolitan areas including Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa and in cities with major colleges or universities including Gainesville and Tallahassee. MDMA increasingly is available in smaller cities and towns throughout the state. Federal, state, and local law enforcement officials in Panama City and Daytona Beach report that the availability of MDMA in their jurisdictions increases significantly during spring break each year.

MDMA is available in tablet, capsule and, to a lesser extent, powdered forms. Most of the MDMA available in Florida is in tablet form and printed with a logo. Some of the most popular logos in Florida include crowns, @ symbols, HP (Harry Potter), and corporate logos such as Mitsubishi and VW.

The price of MDMA in Florida varies based on the quantity sold. Wholesale and midlevel quantities of MDMA--100 to 1,000 tablets--typically sold for $4 to $16 in the second quarter of FY2002, according to the DEA Miami Division. A 100-tablet quantity is sometimes known as a jar and a 1,000-tablet quantity, a tank. DEA also reported that retail quantities of MDMA sold for $10 to $27.50 per tablet during that period.

Seizure statistics indicate that MDMA is increasingly available in Florida. According to DEA System to Retrieve Information from Drug Evidence (STRIDE) data, federal law enforcement officials in Florida seized almost 224,000 MDMA tablets in Florida in 1999, 1.5 million tablets in 2000, and almost 1.9 million tablets in 2001, the only years for which these data are available. In addition, in 2001 more MDMA was seized in Florida than in any other state.

Violence

The level of violence directly attributed to MDMA distribution and abuse in Florida is low. However, the South Florida HIDTA reports that some MDMA distributors do resort to violence to protect their product and turf. The abuse of MDMA is rarely associated with violent crime in Florida.

Production

MDMA sometimes is produced in Florida; however, most MDMA available in the state is produced in the Netherlands and Belgium. In May 2002 local law enforcement officials arrested two Caucasian males and seized an MDMA laboratory in Hillsborough County, just east of Tampa. For about 1 year these men used the laboratory to produce approximately 1,000 tablets of MDMA per week.

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Transportation

Israeli and Russian DTOs and criminal groups are the dominant transporters of MDMA into Florida. Western European, Caribbean (primarily Dominican), Colombian and, to a lesser extent, U.S.-based Caucasian criminal groups also transport significant quantities of MDMA into Florida. Most of the MDMA transported into Florida is smuggled from source or transit countries by couriers on passenger airlines or via package delivery services. MDMA occasionally is smuggled aboard maritime vessels and by air freight arriving from foreign countries or is transported in commercial and private vehicles from other states.

Law enforcement reporting and seizure data indicate the extent to which MDMA is smuggled into Florida via package delivery services and couriers aboard commercial aircraft. The Central Florida HIDTA reports that package delivery services are the most common method used to smuggle MDMA into Florida. In April 2001 USCS inspectors at Miami International Airport seized 35,000 MDMA tablets from a package sent from Amsterdam, the Netherlands. USCS officials in Florida seized almost 18 kilograms of MDMA sent via package delivery services to Florida in 2001. The Central Florida HIDTA also reports that couriers from Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, and other European cities frequently travel to Florida with multithousand-tablet shipments of MDMA concealed in false compartments in their luggage. On March 20, 2002, USCS agents at Miami International Airport arrested a Spanish national and seized almost 59,000 MDMA tablets from his false-sided suitcase. The man arrived on a flight from Zurich, Switzerland. USCS officials in Florida seized almost 1.5 million MDMA tablets that were transported aboard commercial aircraft in 2001. Federal law enforcement officials report that European-based MDMA trafficking organizations and criminal groups are recruiting European nationals vacationing in the Dominican Republic, a popular and economical European tourist destination, to transport MDMA from Europe to Florida.

MDMA Transported From Florida By Bus

On September 10, 2002, law enforcement officers assigned to the North Florida HIDTA Currency and Narcotics Transportation Interdiction Initiative arrested three drug couriers and seized a total of approximately 250,000 MDMA tablets and over $13,000 in cash. All three couriers were traveling by bus from Fort Lauderdale to New York City and were apprehended en route at the Jacksonville bus terminal. The drugs were found concealed in the couriers' checked luggage. The MDMA tablets were packaged in plastic bags and stamped with a fish logo. The money was found in one courier's carry-on luggage. The officers reported that the couriers--two from Suriname and one from French Guyana--denied knowing one another. Each claimed that an unidentified individual provided the luggage containing the MDMA at the Fort Lauderdale bus station.

Source: Jacksonville County Sheriff's Office.

MDMA occasionally is smuggled into Florida aboard maritime vessels. According to the North Florida HIDTA, MDMA sometimes is smuggled from source countries to the Dominican Republic or other Caribbean nations, then smuggled aboard commercial vessels, especially cruise ships, into Florida. In February 2001 USCS officials at the Port of Miami seized 3,000 MDMA tablets and 86 kilograms of cocaine aboard a cruise ship. This was the first time a significant quantity of MDMA was seized aboard a cruise ship arriving from the Caribbean.

U.S.-based Caucasian criminal groups and local independent dealers transport small amounts of MDMA in commercial and private vehicles into Florida. Local law enforcement officials in northern Florida report that Caucasian criminal groups and local independent dealers often travel to Atlanta and other southeastern cities in private vehicles, purchase MDMA, and return to Florida to distribute the drug. On March 13, 2002, DEA agents arrested four individuals in Lakeland and seized 25,900 MDMA tablets that were being transported in a private vehicle. USCS officials in Florida seized almost 14,000 MDMA tablets from commercial and private vehicles in 2001. Law enforcement officials in Florida seized 48,186 dosage units of MDMA transported using similar conveyances as part of Operation Pipeline that year.

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Distribution

Florida is a regional distribution center for wholesale quantities of MDMA. State and local law enforcement officials in six states--Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia--responding to the NDTS 2002 reported that Miami is a supply area for MDMA available in their jurisdictions. Some of these respondents also reported that wholesale quantities of MDMA often are distributed from Orlando and Tampa.

Many of the same groups that transport MDMA into Florida dominate the wholesale distribution of the drug. Israeli, Russian, Colombian, and Western European DTOs and criminal groups are the primary wholesale distributors of MDMA in Florida. However, Dominican, other Caribbean and, to a lesser extent, U.S.-based Caucasian criminal groups also distribute wholesale quantities of MDMA in Florida. These DTOs and criminal groups typically supply multithousand-tablet quantities of MDMA to midlevel distributors who, in turn, supply up to multihundred-tablet quantities to retail distributors. In February 2001 federal and local law enforcement officials in Miami seized 187,500 MDMA tablets and arrested several Colombian nationals who distributed MDMA at the wholesale level.

MDMA Distribution Ring Dismantled

On September 22, 2001, federal, state, and local law enforcement officials arrested 16 individuals who distributed MDMA and seized 7 vehicles, 9,700 MDMA tablets, 16 ounces of GHB, 7 ounces of marijuana, 1 ounce of cocaine, $243,000 in cash, and an assault rifle. These distributors sold thousands of MDMA tablets and various quantities of cocaine at six nightclubs in Daytona Beach during the year preceding their arrests. At least one of the distributors, the head of the organization, also had distributed MDMA tablets in Orlando, Jacksonville, and Melbourne and in states such as North Carolina and South Carolina.

Source: Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Local independent Caucasian dealers are the primary retail distributors of MDMA in Florida. These dealers, usually upper- and middle-class Caucasian teenagers and young adults, often abuse MDMA as well. In addition, local independent Hispanic dealers and African American gangs sometimes distribute retail quantities of MDMA in Florida. MDMA tablets typically are sold at raves or techno parties, private parties, nightclubs, and on high school and college campuses. Some independent dealers and Caucasian criminal groups in Florida have been producing their own product that they market and sell as ecstasy, but it contains little, if any, MDMA.

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