Man Found Guilty of Smuggling Ecstasy
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A Hollywood man was convicted Wednesday of conspiring to smuggle 178,000 tablets of Ecstasy into the country.
Meir Itaev, 46, and another man flew to Europe for the drugs, which had a street value of about $4 million.
They concealed the narcotics in hollowed-out antique books, according to federal prosecutors, and tried to ship them to a drop house in Yorba Linda.
The drugs were discovered by a DHL Worldwide Express employee in Brussels, who called police, prosecutors said.
Itaev faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 16. Co-defendant Alex Gefter pleaded guilty in April and testified against Itaev.
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