Arlington Police Seize 1,000 Ecstasy Tabs Shaped Like Flintstones Vitamins

ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) - It's a drug most parents probably don't worry about with their kids. But Arlington police said today's big ecstasy bust should make you rethink how pervasive the drug is.

"The danger with these drugs is significant," said Arlington Police Department spokesman Steven Bartolotta. "So to be able to get these drugs off the street is a big win for us."

A tip given to Arlington police by a suspect in an unrelated case led to a traffic stop on South Collins just 2 miles away from the police headquarters.

A search of the car found 1,000 colorful tablets of ecstasy, a drug most known for making headlines 30 years ago.

"These were fashionable in the late 80s or 90s when people would go out to night clubs or raves," Bartolotta explained. "They might've fallen off the radar so-to-speak and dropped out of people's minds. Well, they are still out there and these drugs are still prevalent."

The drugs are known for inducing a euphoric feeling. They are cheap -- a couple of bucks a pill. And the tabs seized were deceptively innocent shapes: a comic book character logos, transformers, emoji and more.

"These pills could be passed off as vitamins or something that anyone would want to take," Bartolotta said.

But, "The drugs on the street can vary widely in chemical composition and in their dangerous side effects," according to Bartolotta. "They are dangerous. They are an amphetamine and they can cause a lot of different reactions to people if they take one or two. And if you take multiple of these pills, overdose on them, they can be fatal as well," he said.

The Arlington Police Department has not released the name of the person arrested for possessing the ecstasy. They say there's an ongoing investigation that may yield even more drugs.

In:
• Arlington Police Department