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 November
2000
OPERATION RED TIDE
On November 22, 2000,
the DEA, FBI, IRS, and the U.S. Customs Service concluded an 18-month
investigation targeting a multi-ethnic, transnational Ecstasy (MDMA) and
cocaine distribution organization. The investigation, known as Operation
Red Tide, was coordinated by a Los Angeles-based federal task force comprised
of agents from the fore-mentioned agencies and strongly supported by several
local and state law enforcement agencies. More than 22 arrests were made
in Los Angeles, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Las Vegas, Nevada;
Phoenix, Arizona; Anchorage, Alaska; Salt Lake City, Utah; London, England;
Frankfurt, Germany; Milan, Italy; and Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
On July 22, 2000,
a team of DEA and FBI agents provided information to the U.S. Customs
Service about a load of Ecstasy that had been shipped to Los Angeles from
Paris, France. As a result, 1,096 pounds (2.1 million tablets) of Ecstasy
were seized by USCS agents from a commercial air carrier in Los Angeles,
the largest single seizure of the drug in history. The head of the organization,
Tamer Adel Ibrahim, immediately fled the United States after the seizure,
but was quickly traced to Mexico by the DEA/FBI team.
Ibrahim began coordinating
a multi-hundred kilogram shipment of cocaine from Mexico to Europe, as
well as the shipment of an additional 1.2 million tablets of Ecstasy from
the Netherlands to Los Angeles, via Mexico. In mid-September, Ibrahim
traveled from Mexico to Amsterdam, where he planned to finalize the 1.2
million-tablet shipment of Ecstasy to Los Angeles. A co-conspirator, Joseph
Gilboa, traveled from Israel to meet with Ibrahim and other members of
the syndicate to facilitate the shipment. Gilboa and Ibrahim, along with
others, were arrested shortly thereafter and the 1.2 million tablets of
Ecstasy were seized by the Dutch National Police.
Dutch officials continued
their investigation over the next three months as the DEA/FBI team continued
to funnel leads to that agency. On November 22, 2000, the Dutch National
Police arrested seven co-conspirators, executed search warrants at 17
locations, and seized several hundred thousand US dollars, as well as
several hundred thousand Dutch guilders. Ultimately, 3,127 pounds of Ecstasy
tablets linked to the syndicate were seized in the United States and elsewhere
around the globe.
Operation Red Tide
targeted a transnational Ecstasy and cocaine trafficking syndicate, and
was a cooperative effort by the U.S. law enforcement agencies, as well
as the Dutch National Police/Regional Team South, Mexico’s Fiscalia
Especializad Para La Atencion De Delitos (FEADS), the Israeli National
Police, the German Federal Police, the Cologne Germany Police Department,
the Duissburg Germany Police Department, and the Italian and French National
Police. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Downey California
Police Department, the California Highway Patrol, and the Los Angeles
IMPACT Task Force also worked closely with federal authorities in California
throughout the investigation.
Operation Red Tide began as a result of the largest single
seizure of Ecstasy (MDMA). Over 1,000 pounds (2.1 million
tablets) were seized on July 22, 2000, in Los Angeles, CA. |
