Snoop Dogg's Pal and Playboy Channel Producer Accused of Using Models to Smuggle Ecstasy
Jim Kouri, CPP
May 11, 2006
A freelance television producer for the Playboy Channel and the editor of an urban Hip-Hop magazine are two of the eleven suspects facing charges in connection with a West Coast-based Ecstasy smuggling scheme uncovered by federal agents.
Kenneth Cecil Francis, III, 37, who served as co-producer with rap artist Snoop Dogg of the Playboy Channel program "Buckwild" was expected to made his initial appearance in federal court in Los Angeles yesterday afternoon. Francis was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents last Friday at Los Angeles International Airport when he and Snoop Dogg returned from a trip to Europe.
Also charged in the Ecstasy smuggling scheme is Ronald Joseph Samuel, 33, the editor in chief of "UNleashed Magazine," an urban lifestyle publication popular in hip hop music circles. Samuel, who has been ordered held without bond, was arrested by agents last week in Van Nuys. Samuel is suspected of overseeing the ring that used aspiring female models to smuggle hundreds of thousands of Ecstasy tablets from Europe into the United States in 2000 and 2001.
Francis and Samuel are among the 11 persons named in a five-count indictment unsealed last week charging them with conspiracy to import and distribute MDMA (Ecstasy), operating a continuing criminal enterprise, and money laundering.
According to the indictment, the female couriers made several trips every week to Brussels and Amsterdam where they were given gift-wrapped packages containing as many as 65,000 Ecstasy tablets to bring back to the United States. The ring?s leaders reportedly told some of the couriers the parcels contained smuggled diamonds.
Before our agents uncovered this scheme, these suspects were smuggling significant quantities of Ecstasy into the Los Angeles area,? said Kevin Kozak, acting special agent in charge for the ICE office of investigations in Los Angeles.
"These pills sell on the street for as much as $60 a piece. That translates into huge profits that are often funneled back into further criminal activity."
In addition to Francis and Samuel, ICE agents arrested seven other alleged members of the Ecstasy ring last week -- three in the Los Angeles area, one in Sacramento, and three in New York City.
The investigation began in 2001, when one of the ring?s couriers was intercepted at JFK airport in New York after arriving on a flight from Amsterdam. The subsequent investigation revealed that the ring was importing and distributing Ecstasy both in the Los Angeles area and in New York. ICE agents say the investigation is ongoing.
Kenneth Cecil Francis, III, 37, who served as co-producer with rap artist Snoop Dogg of the Playboy Channel program "Buckwild" was expected to made his initial appearance in federal court in Los Angeles yesterday afternoon. Francis was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents last Friday at Los Angeles International Airport when he and Snoop Dogg returned from a trip to Europe.
Also charged in the Ecstasy smuggling scheme is Ronald Joseph Samuel, 33, the editor in chief of "UNleashed Magazine," an urban lifestyle publication popular in hip hop music circles. Samuel, who has been ordered held without bond, was arrested by agents last week in Van Nuys. Samuel is suspected of overseeing the ring that used aspiring female models to smuggle hundreds of thousands of Ecstasy tablets from Europe into the United States in 2000 and 2001.
Francis and Samuel are among the 11 persons named in a five-count indictment unsealed last week charging them with conspiracy to import and distribute MDMA (Ecstasy), operating a continuing criminal enterprise, and money laundering.
According to the indictment, the female couriers made several trips every week to Brussels and Amsterdam where they were given gift-wrapped packages containing as many as 65,000 Ecstasy tablets to bring back to the United States. The ring?s leaders reportedly told some of the couriers the parcels contained smuggled diamonds.
Before our agents uncovered this scheme, these suspects were smuggling significant quantities of Ecstasy into the Los Angeles area,? said Kevin Kozak, acting special agent in charge for the ICE office of investigations in Los Angeles.
"These pills sell on the street for as much as $60 a piece. That translates into huge profits that are often funneled back into further criminal activity."
In addition to Francis and Samuel, ICE agents arrested seven other alleged members of the Ecstasy ring last week -- three in the Los Angeles area, one in Sacramento, and three in New York City.
The investigation began in 2001, when one of the ring?s couriers was intercepted at JFK airport in New York after arriving on a flight from Amsterdam. The subsequent investigation revealed that the ring was importing and distributing Ecstasy both in the Los Angeles area and in New York. ICE agents say the investigation is ongoing.
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