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From: Jean
Date: 12/4/01
Time: 10:55:02 AM
by email Feds serve warrant at Miami home of O.J. Simpson in drug probe Associated Press Posted December 4 2001, 8:58 AM EST MIAMI -- Authorities searched O.J. Simpson's home early Tuesday as part of an investigation into the importation of the drug Ecstasy and the theft of equipment used to steal satellite television signals. Eight other people were arrested in Miami and two in Chicago as part of a two-year investigation called ``Operation X,´´ FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said. Simpson had not been arrested or indicted and Orihuela wouldn't discuss his connection to the investigation. Nine other homes in Miami were also being searched by the FBI along with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Miami-Dade Police Department. About 15 agents arrived at Simpson's house around 6 a.m. EST and the former football great was at home, officials said. In a shot from a television helicopter, Simpson could be seen walking in the backyard in a bathrobe. About two hours after agents arrived, Simpson left the home alone in his sports utility vehicle. Orihuela said the ring imported Ecstasy from Holland and stole equipment used to counterfeit cards that activate satellite television receivers. ``People steal these machines and make these cards, then they get free satellite TV,´´ Orihuela said. Ecstasy is a high-power stimulant that enhances the senses and can cause hallucinations. Simpson attorney Yale Galanter did not immediately return a call to his office seeking comment. The incident was not Simpson's first with the law since he moved to the Kendall neighborhood 15 miles southwest of Miami a few years ago. Simpson was acquitted in a Miami trial Oct. 24 of grabbing another driver's glasses and scratching the man's face in a road-rage argument the former football star insisted was started by the other guy. Simpson was cleared of criminal charges in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles, but a civil jury later ordered him to pay $33.5 million for their deaths. He moved to Florida last year. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, playing for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers Jean