While ecstasy is easy to produce, drug rings prefer to import it because authorities in the U.S. closely monitor the purchase of the chemicals needed to make ecstasy.

In the Netherlands, buying the necessary chemicals to produce ecstasy is easier because of the prominent chemical industry. In addition, the Dutch government treats ecstasy use more as a public-health problem rather than a law-enforcement issue.

According to officials with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), 80 percent of the ecstasy in the United States comes from the Netherlands, with Israeli organized crime rings playing a major role in smuggling.

Recently, U.S. and Canadian law-enforcement officials broke up a major smuggling ring in Toronto that imported powdered ecstasy from the Netherlands.

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