Issue date: 8/31/01 Section: World/Nation

DENVER (AP) — More than 50 people were arrested in Colorado and California on Wednesday in what federal drug agents said were some of the nation’s biggest Ecstasy rings.

Drug Enforcement Agency Administrator (DEA) Asa Hutchinson said the defendants flooded communities in Colorado with Ecstasy and other so-called club drugs, as well as LSD, methaphetamine and marijuana.

Three of those indicted are blamed in the death of a 16-year-old girl and could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted, authorities said.

Brittney Chambers died in January after taking Ecstasy her friends bought for her 16th birthday party in suburban Denver. She went into a coma after taking the pill and died a few days later.

‘‘As Brittney’s friends and family can tell us, Ecstasy is an agony,’’ Hutchinson said.

The investigation was named Operation Green Clover, for an Ecstasy pill in the shape of a clover.

Fifty-five people were arrested in Colorado and California on Wednesday on state and federal charges. Eleven others were being sought.

The charges include distribution of Ecstasy, conspiracy and distribution resulting in death.

Officers in California and Colorado seized 85,000 Ecstasy tablets, 2.5 kilograms of cocaine, 320 pounds of marijuana, five pounds of methaphetamine, 40,000 doses of LSD, $1.36 million in cash, 13 vehicles and 36 weapons, said Bob Castillo, head of the DEA office in Denver.

The investigation began after a Colorado state trooper made an arrest last August outside Colorado Springs and found Ecstasy pills. That resulted in the arrests of cadets at the Air Force Academy and airmen at various Colorado bases.

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