Combo platter: Sushi, sashimi, cocaine

Sushi restaurant responsible for supplying over 300 customers with drugs; Tel Aviv narcotics division arrests five suspects, including restaurant owner

Eli Senyor|Published: 12.27.12 , 19:38

The psychologist of a large local authority, municipality inspectors and an elite hairstylist are among the exclusive customers of a cocaine-selling network uncovered this week in the heart of Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv Central Police Unit's narcotics division, headed by Chief Superintendent Yaron Kaldes, arrested five people suspected of operating the network, including the well-known central Tel Aviv sushi restaurant owners.

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The investigators suspect that the customers ordered the drugs from the sushi restaurant by use of code words and had the goods delivered to their homes. The price: Between NIS 400-NIS 500 (about $110-$140) per gram.

The narcotics division detectives have been following the network members for quite some time. The police claim that the network has over 300 customers. "This is not a street junkie network but one that deals with people with respectable professions," explained interrogation division head, Chief Superintendant Nissim Daudi.

This past Tuesday, after a lengthy covert investigation, the detectives arrested five people suspected of operating the network, including Amir Rashti, considered a Tel Aviv narcotics division target.

In the interrogation room, Chief Inspector Yoni Frig and his subordinates discovered the trafficking scope and the identity of hundreds of customers whom the network allegedly supplied with cocaine.

Among the regular customers is a well-known psychologist from the center of the country, a prestigious Tel Aviv hairstylist and local authority inspectors.

As of now, the narcotics division has compiled a list of 300 customers who ordered drugs by code. "We are only at the start of the case, but we undoubtedly arrested one of Tel Aviv's main cocaine suppliers," said Daudi.