UC Santa Cruz frat, sorority members suspected in drug ring

Benny Liu, age 21, was one of six UC Santa Cruz students arrested in the bust. Benny Liu, age 21, was one of six UC Santa Cruz students arrested in the bust. Photo: Santa Cruz Police Department / Santa Cruz Police Department Photo: Santa Cruz Police Department / Santa Cruz Police Department Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close UC Santa Cruz frat, sorority members suspected in drug ring 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

Federal agents and local police officers arrested three sorority women and three fraternity men, all UC Santa Cruz students, in what officials are calling “an organized drug sales ring” bust that turned up 5,000 tablets of the drug MDMA, valued at more than $100,000, officials said Monday.

Multiple shipments of the drug, also called Ecstasy, were bound for three Santa Cruz residences and sent through the U.S. Postal Service from overseas, according to Joyce Blaschke, a police spokeswoman. Officials said the packages were being shipped to members of the Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity and alpha Kappa Delta Phi sorority.

Mariah Dremel, Benny Liu, Cesar Casil, Hoai Nguyen Cecilia Le, all age 21, and Nathan Tieu, 22, were arrested in the bust. The first four were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy and possession of a controlled substance for sale. Nguyen and Le face the lesser charge of possession of a controlled substance.

All six were booked at the Santa Cruz County Main Jail on Friday.

The arrests came after search warrants were executed at off-campus residences on the 400 block of Locust Street, 200 block of Castillion Terrace and 100 block of Peach Terrace. Homeland Security notified Santa Cruz police after a postal inspector in San Jose determined that suspicious packages were heading for the residences. County and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration personnel also assisted with the bust.

The total weight of the drugs seized in the search was 4.1 pounds.

Police believe the fraternity and sorority were working together and that they had received multiple shipments in the past.

Santa Cruz police said MDMA is a serious concern for the area. The drug gives the user feelings of increased energy and pleasure, and it’s been associated with nightclubs and raves.

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov