Police: New via-Syria drug route revealed
Northern District Police commander introduces 2008 performance report, says Israel-Syrian border is new hotspot for drug dealers. Data also indicates rise in drug-related offenses, arsons, youth crime
The Northern District Police published its 2008 performance report Tuesday, noting a substantial drop in overall crime rates and property offenses, alongside a disconcerting rise in drug-related offenses, arsons and youth crime.
Northern District Police Commander, Major-General Shimon Koren, introduced the data in a special press conference held in the police's Nazareth headquarters.
One of the presentation's focal points was the discovery of a new drug smuggling route into Israel via the Syria-Israel border.
"We never encountered drug smugglings through the Syrian border before," said Maj.-Gen Koren. "We thwarted two major smuggling attempts where we found Israeli, Lebanese and Syrian drug dealers working in cahoots.
"This kind of cooperation, which is unheard of in the world of politics, has found its way to the criminal sphere," he added. "We also know theses drug dealers have substantial ties to Hizbullah."
Both smuggling attempts were foiled by the police's Lebanese Border Unit, formed as a joint venture with the Israeli Defense Forces. Koren said he believes it was the unit's intense efforts along the border that stops the drugs from making their way into Israel.
Israel, he added, "filed a report with UN forces in Syria, and we know for a fact that the Syrians are trying to stop drug operations. But then again, we've seen no attempt to prevent or stop these incidents on the UN or Lebanon's side. They deal strictly with security-related issues."
'Crime clock'
Overall, he concluded, the police confiscated 350lbs of heroin and 62lbs of hashish from being smuggled over the border. The Coastal Subdistrict Police, he added, also prevented 1.5 tons of South-American cocaine from arriving at Israel's shores.
Other data presented by Koren included the "crime clock": Israel's northern district experiences a home invasion every 73 minutes, a violent altercation every 35 minutes and a robbery every 13 hours.
The "clock" also noted that a rape takes place every 24 hours in the north and a murder – every 11 days in average.
Youth violence and crime were up 7.6% in northern Israel in 2008; a 21% rise was noted in arson cases and a similar increase was noted in the seizing of illegal weapons.
