Drugs seized by police (Archives)
צילום: הרצל יוסף
4 charged in Japan drug trafficking case
Residents of central Israel charged with running drug import, trafficking network. Fifth suspect charged with third party drug trade
Four residents of central Israel were charged on Monday with smuggling drugs from Japan and other countries into Israel. They were charged with conspiring to commit a crime, drug possession and trade, and some of them were also charged with assault and aggravated extortion.
According to the indictment, 37-year-old Yaakov Zazashwili, 33-year-old Tamir Levy, 35-year-old Moshe Edri and 38-year-old Meir Biton traded heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana between the years 2004 – 2009.
The suspects transferred the profits to Israel in a number of ways, including through couriers flying in from Japan, and deposited the money in various bank accounts in Israel. An undercover police operation led to the suspects' arrest in late September.
Zazashwili was allegedly responsible for transferring the drugs from Estonia, where he lived, and other countries to Israel. In most cases, he gave orders over the telephone to another suspect in the affair, and updated him on the details of the delivery – including the amount of drugs, their price, their cost and profit.
Zazashwili was also responsible for locating the suppliers and the customers, and would make contact with them to coordinate the deals.
The second suspect, Tamir Levy, was responsible for funding the purchase of the drugs. He took part in making decisions regarding trade deals with other bodies, and would work out the suitable channels to transfer the money from Japan to Israel.
Levy also acted as a mediator in disputes that broke out between the other suspects, and between them and external bodies following various drug deals.
Moshe Edri, the third suspect, lived and operated in Israel. He was responsible for investing the money and distributing the profits from the drug deals.
The fourth suspect, Meir Biton, lived in Japan, and was responsible for contacting the local drug producers, as well as purchasing the drugs.
The four members of the network were charged with conspiring to commit a crime, and three of them were charged with drug possession and trafficking.
Charges were also brought against another suspect, Moshe Grimberg for drug trafficking through a third party. Grimberg was charged with selling 5,200 ecstasy pills for the group in exchange for $66,500, and carried out a total of six trade deals amounting to the sale of thousands of ecstasy pills.
Levy and Edri were charged with assault and aggravated extortion, after beating a man who assisted them in their trafficking in Japan. The four suspected that the man was not loyal to them, and decided to send him back to Israel.
The man was sent to Israel carrying NIS 30,000($7,881), and when he tried to hand the money over to Levy and Edri, they accused him of theft, beat him, and demanded NIS 50,000 ($13,135) in compensation.
