A new strain of potentially lethal "super drugs" is

being smuggled into the UK, the National Criminal

Intelligence Service has warned.

The "designer amphetamines"

are reportedly being targeted at

the same people who take more

than one million Ecstacy tablets in

British clubs and pubs each

week.

But the substances, which are often passed off as

Ecstacy, can have radically different and

sometimes fatal effects.

The two main drugs that have appeared in the UK

in recent months are DOB, otherwise known as

Goldeneagle, and Flatliners, or 4 MTA.

DOB is relatively well-known, having first been

manufactured in the US during the 1960s.

It is described by experts as a "prime drug of

deception" because it appears to behave in the

same way as Ecstacy, but gives the user

hallucinations.

Flatliners are made in a similar way to Ecstacy,

but are in fact 33 times stronger.

The Forensic Science Service said three people in

the UK and one in the Netherlands are known to

have died after taking the drug.

The NCIS believes organised criminals have

begun to produce the new super drugs because of

successful police crackdowns on the main

chemical "pre-cursors" for the production of more

common forms of amphetamines, like Ecstacy.

Internet recipes

Drug manufacturers have been forced to look at

other chemical pre-cursors which are not on the

list of illegal, or "proscribed" drugs and have

developed drugs like Flatliners and DOB as a

result.

The principal source of the new tablets is thought

to be the Netherlands, with dealers in the UK

simply targeting "people who want to dance all

night".

(...) 19 nov 1998 3h51 GMT