DUSHANBE, February 10, 2014, Asia-Plus -- Officers from the Drug Control Agency under the President of Tajikistan (DCA) have broken up an organized criminal group engaged in peddling ecstasy in the northern Sughd province and Dushanbe, according to the DCA press center.

A special operation carried out by drug control officers last week led to the arrest of four alleged ecstasy peddlers and 1,106 ecstasy pills were confiscated from them.

They were reportedly peddling them in the youth entertainment centers at the rate of 20.00 to 30.00 U.S dollars per pill.

Criminal proceedings have been instituted against the detained ecstasy peddler under the provisions of Article 200 (4) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – drug trafficking; an investigation is under way.

“Ecstasy” is a term used to refer to a type of illicit street tablet containing one or more different psychotropic drugs sold on the black market and intended for recreational uses.

Methylenedioxymethamphetamine ((MDMA; commonly called "Ecstasy" itself) is the primary active agent, though such tablets may contain other compounds as well; MDMA may be entirely absent from an “Ecstasy” tablet.

Apart from their differing chemical composition, tablets are differentiated by size, shape, color, and imprinted design.  Tablets will typically be identified by street names such as “Blue Mitsubishi,” and “Purple Buddha.”