Rosenstein aboard plane to U.S.
Photo: Yechezkel Adiram
Miami court
Photo: Moshe Yamin
Miami federal prison
Photo: Moshe Yamin
Miami: Reputed mobster faces hearing
Ze'ev Rosenstein goes through first hearing for drug trafficking; prosecution says he is 'dangerous to public,' demands he remain in custody until trial
A Miami court on Tuesday extended the remand of reputed Israeli mobster Ze’ev Rosenstein until the next hearing in his case on March 28.
Rosenstein, who was extradited to the United States from Israel on Monday, is being tried for the alleged trafficking of millions of doses of Ecstasy. Tuesday’s hearing was the first in his case.
Farewell
Raanan Ben-Zur
Local mobster Zeev Rosenstein boards flight to Miami, where he will face jury for serious allegation of drug trafficking deals
Judge Barry Seltzer noted during the hearing that the decision whether to release Rosenstein on bail until his trial would not be made until the end of the month.
Prosecution lawyer Benjamin Greenberg said that the U.S. government would demand Rosenstein be kept in custody because he is likely to attempt escape and poses a safety threat to the public.
Rosenstein is being held in a secured floor at the Miami Federal Penitentiary. The building, located a number of blocks from the Israeli Consulate in that city, has especially high security and strict discipline, and prisoners there have extremely limited freedom of movement.
Israeli detainees who have been held there described the severe conditions: Prisoners do not see daylight and are not allowed breaks outdoors or fresh air, and the cafeteria does not serve any meat.
International drug ring busted
Israeli authorities had long been trying to put Rosenstein behind bars but couldn’t gather enough evidence against him. Finally, last year Rosenstein was arrested in part of a major drug bust that exposed an international drug trafficking ring spanning four continents.
Operating in Israel, Rosenstein orchestrated the purchase of Ecstasy pills from laboratories in Amsterdam; drug shipments were then transferred via Germany to the United States and Australia.
Rosenstein’s suspected right-hand man, Shemtov Michtavi, was also busted in the sting operation. Michtavi was tried in a Miami federal court and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The affair started in November 2001, when 1.6 million Ecstasy pills were discovered and confiscated by police in Germany. This led police to arrest 29 suspects in Tel Aviv, Amsterdam, New York, Hamburg and Sydney.
Israeli brothers Baruch and Elan Dadush, who worked with Rosenstein, were among those arrested. They were flown to the U.S. to be state’s witnesses against Rosenstein.
Meanwhile, undercover agents in Holland located an ecstasy mega-lab in the Dutch town of Harlem. When they raided the lab, police found 300 kilograms (about 660 lbs) of MDMA, Ecstasy’s active ingredient, and arrested Dutch suspect Melvin Kardeik.
After inspecting the laboratory, police discovered it had also manufactured drugs nabbed earlier in New York and linked it to Henk Romy, the internationally notorious Ecstasy manufacturer, better known as the “Black Cobra.” They also managed to tie in Rosenstein in the affair, and he was soon arrested.
