Cops nab 2 Israelis, 70-year-old Colombian in large coke bust
Two Haifa residents and elderly drug mule accused of smuggling a pound of cocaine into the country
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJudah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.
Israel Police arrested two Israelis and an elderly Colombian man for smuggling over a pound of cocaine into the country two weeks ago, officials announced Monday.
According to police, the Israeli men, both residents of the northern city of Haifa, convinced the 70-year-old Colombian man to swallow a half-kilo — 1.1 pounds — of cocaine and board a flight to Israel.
Jerusalem police officers arrested the man when he arrived in Israel earlier this month, although the police did not reveal how they knew to be on the lookout for him.
Upon his arrest, the unnamed Colombian man gave police the names of the two Haifa residents who had colluded with him, Israel Radio reported.
The three men will be held in jail through at least the end of the week, according to Israel Radio.
According to some estimates, the 1.1 pounds of cocaine were worth well over NIS 150,000 (about $40,000).
Earlier this year, nine American security personnel in Jerusalem were expelled after allegedly obtaining cocaine and other drugs from Ramallah.
Israel, in recent years, has seen an increase in demand for cocaine, especially among white-collar Israelis, according to a recent UN World Drug Report.
Israel is located at a crossroads between several drug-trafficking routes — Africa, Eastern Europe and the Levant — reportedly making Israel a “major hub” in the international cocaine trade.
The Times of Israel Community.