Ex-Bunnies Busted For Cocaine Possession And Narcotics Probe Targets Playboy Enterprises

In 1974-1975 Playboy Magazine founder Hugh Hefner was at the center of a drug investigation that cost the life of one of his most essential employees. Roberta "Bobbie" Arnstein was found dead in a locked room of the Maryland Hotel on January 10, 1975. In the fall of 1974 Arnstein was convicted of smuggling drugs from Miami to Chicago. Convicted with her were her boyfriend and an accomplice. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency pursued Arnstein as a means of getting at Hefner. The magazine publisher became a target of federal agents because his publication advocated the decriminalization of narcotics laws.