Border Guard officer jailed over drug offenses

Court sentences Aviel Amar to nine months in prison for possession of marijuana, cocaine

Naama Cohen-Friedman |Published: 07.21.11 , 18:15

The Petah Tikva District Court on Thursday sentenced Border Guard officer Aviel Amar, 21, to nine months behind bars for drugs offenses.

Amar was convicted of receiving a shipment of Cannabis seeds, which also contained 800 grams of cocaine. The shipment was sent from Costa Rica.

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The Border Guard officer said he had received the shipment for a friend, and had no knowledge of its content.

According to the prosecution, he was to be paid NIS 5,000 (roughly $1,500) for his part in the deal, and had operated under the assumption that his position as a police officer would exempt the shipment from being examined by Customs.

Amar was arrested following a Police Internal Affairs Bureau investigation, which resulted in an indictment and a subsequent plea bargain.

"An officer of the law is held in higher standard," the court said in its ruling.

"A police officer is expected not only to uphold the law, but to prevent others from breaking it… The nature of the offense, along with the fact that a police officer is the one who violated the law, especially when it comes to the grave offense of importing drugs, calls for a severe sentence."

The court also criticized the defendant who, "despite expressing regret for his actions, fails to truly understand the severity of his offenses."