Heroin smuggled in sacks
Photo: Doron Golan
Record-breaking 82kg of heroin caught at Jordanian border
Main suspect in attempt to smuggle estimated $3 million worth of narcotic from Jordan to Israel is 57-year old brother of well-known drug-trafficker currently standing trial for similar allegations
A record-breaking 82kg of heroin was seized Saturday by police on the Jordanian border, using intelligence provided by sources including the Border Guard. Two suspects, aged 19 and 57, were arrested while trying to transport the drugs in three sacks.
The suspects were taken in for questioning in what police say was the biggest drug bust ever recorded in the region, estimated at a "street value" of over $3 million.
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The main suspect, aged 57, is the brother of Salame al-Mital, who is one of the best known drug smugglers in the region. Al-Mithal has been indicted over a smuggling attempt that took place in February of this year.
"Both suspects were declared to be running a vast network of drug smuggling," said Chief Superintendent Yossi Cohen, commander of the Negev Central Command. "We've been working on al-Mithal's brother for a month and a half, with the knowledge that he is one of the most shrewd and cunning drug smugglers around.
"There were even a few times when he got away from us, but happily he was arrested carrying a record-breaking amount of drugs." Cohen added that drug smugglers on the border were often endowed with "military capabilities that any soldier would be proud of."
Such qualities may have been acquired by the main suspect when he served in the IDF as a tracker. He was previously arrested with 14 kg of heroin in 1966, while serving as commander of the Arabah tracker unit in the Negev.
In 2008 narcotics tracking was placed at the central focus of police in the south, when estimates placed the amount of heroin being smuggled from Jordan at an annual weight of 800 kg.
