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Irma Perez Story
On November 23, 2004, Javier Pena, the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the San Francisco Field Division, visited Imelda Perez, the older sister and mother figure, of Irma Perez, the teenager who died earlier this year after ingesting one tablet of 3-4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA, also known as Ecstasy. SAC Pena offered his condolences to the Perez family on behalf of the DEA. On the evening of April 23, 2004, Irma Perez, an eighth grader from Belmont, California, submitted to peer pressure and experimented with MDMA. She had gone to her friend’s house for a sleep over with two other minor girls. Unbeknownst to Imelda, the two girls had consumed MDMA earlier that day. In fact, one of them skipped school because she became ill and vomited an unheeded indication that perhaps this was a bad batch of drugs. Imelda was neither aware that one of the minor girls had gotten in trouble before for experimenting with marijuana. That night somehow, Irma was convinced to try MDMA. The girls needed one more pill for Irma, so telephone calls were made, and a drug dealer’s runner (a 17 year-old boy) went to the house to deliver the deadly pill. Encouraged by the girls she thought were her friends Irma took the MDMA tablet. Irma would not see the light of day again. She had a negative and violent reaction. At first she complained she had a headache. Later, Irma started vomiting and realized she was in serious trouble. Her two friends decided not to summon help. Instead they called the drug dealer. His advice was to give Irma marijuana. Irma’s condition deteriorated to the point she lost consciousness, and started moaning. She may also have suffered a seizure, which is one of the documented side effects of MDMA. Before passing out, and by now aware that she was in mortal danger, Irma stated, “I think I’m going to die.” Moments later she said her good-bye, “Tell my family I love them.” Irma loved her family indeed. She had lost her mother to cancer at the age of eight. Irma was known to write notes saying: “I miss you and I love you”, leaving them at her mother’s grave. Irma’s best friend was her sister Jessica, two years her junior. Irma and Jessica would sometimes cuddle up together at night and fall asleep after talking for extended periods of time. Irma, as third youngest, was part of a large loving family of nine children consisting of eight girls and one boy. At 6:45 a.m. on April 24 th Imelda Perez, received a call from one of the girls’ parents. Imelda was told that something was seriously wrong with Irma, and they could not awaken her. Imelda rushed to the house where she had dropped off her younger sister the previous day to find her lying on the ground. After trying unsuccessfully to awaken Irma, Imelda called 911. By the time the paramedics arrived and rushed Irma to the hospital, it was too late. Irma had to be put on life support. The next day the doctors informed Irma’s family that she was brain dead. Days later Irma was disconnected from the life support system. At the tender age of 14 years, Irma Perez was dead. Irma may have been saved if she had received medical help in a timely manner. Failure to call for help by the two teenage girls was considered a criminal violation of the State of California laws. The Belmont Police Department opened an investigation in coordination with the District’s Attorney Office. Soon after arrests were made and criminal charges were filed in a California court against five persons. These five people had in one way or another contributed to Irma’s suffering and death. Antonio Rivera, the drug dealer who sold the MDMA, his girlfriend Angelique Malabey, Irma’s two girlfriends (both of them juveniles), and the drug runner (the 17 year-old male who delivered the MDMA) were all arrested in connection with Irma’s tragic and untimely death. Rivera, age 21, was sentenced to five years in state prison. Malabey, 18, who helped Rivera hide drugs, received six months, the two girls who failed to summon prompt medical help for Irma were sent to juvenile rehabilitation programs. The 17 year-old drug runner was sentenced to an unspecified term in a juvenile detention camp, despite tearful pleas from Imelda for tougher punishment. Some people are still in denial refusing to accept that MDMA is a dangerous drug with the definite potential to not only maim, but kill. Mr. Phillip Barnett, the lawyer for one of the arrested girls following Irma’s death, was quoted in Seventeen Magazine as saying: “These were friends taking a recreational drug together. Then something tragic happened.” The DEA does not consider MDMA a recreational drug; on the contrary Irma’s case demonstrates that ingesting MDMA is similar to playing Russian roulette with a gun loaded with an unknown number of rounds. The DEA argued in the 1980’s that MDMA was a dangerous drug with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. The DEA classified MDMA as a Schedule I substance, which made its manufacturing, possession and distribution a criminal violation of the Controlled Substances Act. MDMA has no approved medical use in the United States. MDMA was discovered in Germany in 1913 and patented by a pharmaceutical company in 1914. It was intended as a weight-loss (anorectic) drug, but because of its side-effects, MDMA was never marketed. MDMA was re-discovered in the mid 1960s and began to be reported in growing numbers in scientific literature, but remained outside control mechanisms for many more years. During the 1970s there was an interest by some psychiatrists in using MDMA as a therapeutic agent because it was reported to reduce the inhibition of their patients to speak openly during therapy sessions. The subjective effects of MDMA in humans include a heightened sense of awareness as well as a feeling of increased empathy or emotional closeness to others. The production of MDMA in clandestine laboratories, its increasing abuse among young people and evidence of adverse health effects, including brain damage, led to the emergency scheduling of MDMA into Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act in 1985. In 1988, MDMA was permanently classified as a Schedule 1 substance. Use by young people of MDMA rose precipitously during the latter half of the 1990s, only to decline dramatically in the past two years. Like other “new” illicit drugs introduced to Americans over the past 30 years, this increase in MDMA use was largely driven by a mistaken belief that the drug was harmless. Numerous studies have demonstrated that far from being harmless, MDMA use can result in serious health consequences and can produce dependency. There is growing evidence that chronic, heavy use of MDMA is associated with sleep disorders, depressed mood, and persistent elevation of anxiety, impulsiveness and hostility, and selective impairment of episodic memory, working memory, and attention. The evidence suggests that these cognitive deficits are due to MDMA-induced toxicity. Further tentative evidence shows that cognitive deficits can last at least 6 months after abstinence, whereas the anxiety and hostility may remain for a year. The rise and subsequent decline in MDMA use is an excellent example of the powerful effect prevention efforts have on reducing drug use among youth. But there is more work to be done. In Fiscal Years (FY) 2003 and 2004, the San Francisco Field Division (SFFD) of the DEA seized a total of 31,702 MDMA tablets, and arrested a total of 56 suspects. In FY 2001 and 2002, the SFFD seized a total of 85,969 MDMA tablets and arrested 132 suspects. The street value of the MDMA seized in the last four Fiscal Years hovers around $2,000,000.00. Currently, the DEA is conducting several criminal investigations on suspected MDMA distributors. The San Francisco Field Division is comprised of nine offices in San Francisco, Bakersfield, San Jose, Oakland, Santa Rosa, Redding, Sacramento, Fresno and Modesto. The vast majority of MDMA consumed in the United States is produced in Europe, particularly in the Netherlands and Belgium. A limited number of MDMA laboratories operate in the United States. The profit margin associated with MDMA trafficking is significant. It costs as little as 25 to 50 cents to manufacture an MDMA tablet in Europe. MDMA tablets range in weight from 150 to 350 mg and contain between 70 to 120 mg of MDMA. MDMA is popular among middle-class adolescents and young adults. The DEA has offices in the Netherlands and Belgium. The DEA Agents assigned to those offices work in conjunction with local authorities to stem the flow of MDMA into the United States. Federal Statutes provide for stiff penalties for MDMA trafficking. The first offense can be punishable with up to 20 years of incarceration for any amount of MDMA. If a death occurs or serious injury occurs, the minimum penalty is 20 years in prison, up to a life sentence. For more information about MDMA and other illegal drugs and ways to prevent their use, visit our website at: www.dea.gov |
