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![Operation Candy Box logo](/peth04/20041018095903im_/http://www.dea.gov/major/candybox/candybox_logo_small.gif) |
Operation
Candy Box: Over 130 Arrested in American-Canadian
Crackdown on Ecstasy and Marijuana Drug Ring |
![Operation Candy Box logo](/peth04/20041018095903im_/http://www.dea.gov/major/candybox/candybox_logo_small.gif) |
Deputy
Attorney General James Comey and DEA Administrator Karen Tandy announce
the culmination of Operation Candy Box |
March 31 - More
than 130 people were arrested today in a two-nation crackdown on a
huge drug trafficking ring that manufactured large quantities of Ecstasy
and marijuana in Canada and then shipped them to cities around the United
States.
One outcome of this three-year investigation, called Operation Candy
Box, was the discovery that Ecstasy trafficking, which had largely been
controlled by Russian and Israeli gangs, had now spread to groups with
ties to Southeast Asia. The two principal targets of this investigation
were Ze Wai Wong, a Chinese national, and Mai Phuong Le, a Vietnamese
national.
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MDMA
Tableting Lab |
Seized
Marijuana |
A second outcome of the operation was the disruption of a sizable money
laundering business and the discovery of significant weaknesses in the
U.S. financial system that make money laundering possible. The Drug Enforcement
Administration, under its Administrator, Karen Tandy, has made financial
investigations a priority of the agency.
![photo - Pill Stamps](/peth04/20041018095903im_/http://www.dea.gov/major/candybox/sm_pill_stamps.jpg)
Seized Pill Stamps that were used to impress designs and logos onto
Ecstasy tablets marketed in cities across the U.S. |
Operation
Candy Box, which started with some intelligence passed on to American
authorities, was initiated in the U.S. in May 2001 by DEA
and FBI agents in New York City. It eventually became an operation
which encompassed 16 cities in the U.S. and three in Canada.
The large number of arrests was only part of the story of Operation
Candy Box. The investigation also resulted in the seizure of large quantities
of drugs and organizational assets, including manufacturing labs.
Operation Candy Box Statistics*
(One Day Only - March 31, 2004)
Seizures
(in the U.S.):
U.S. Currency: $2,862,300
Weapons: 34
Vehicles: 35
Ecstasy Tablets: 7,000
Marijuana: 206 lbs
*As of 4/2/04, Statistics are
Subject to Change
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Operation Candy Box Statistics*
(Total Throughout the Two-Year Investigation)
Seizures (in
the U.S.):
U.S. Currency: $8.7 Million
Weapons: 46
Vehicles: 35
Ecstasy Tablets: 407,000
Marijuana: 1,370 lbs
*As of 4/2/04, Statistics are
Subject to Change
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