Underworld suspect in mob shooting ordered kept in custody

A man arrested on suspicion of involvement in a deadly mob hit earlier this month was identified Wednesday as a known figure in the world of Israel’s organized crime.

Avi Abutbul, from Netanya, was detained Tuesday in connection with the murder of Shai Shirazi, 30, who was mortally wounded in a May 7 shooting attack in northern Tel Aviv.

The Rishon Letzion Magistrate’s Court ordered him kept in custody for another six days.

Police linked Abutbul to the crime on the basis of two cellphone calls he had with other suspects in the shooting.

Another suspect, Michael Levi, was arrested a day before Abutbul, also for alleged involvement in the shooting of Shirazi.

During the gun attack unidentified assailants pulled up to the victim’s Mazda 3 at a red light and fired a large number of rounds into the vehicle. A second passenger, 45, was lightly wounded.

Both men were taken to the nearby Ichilov hospital, where Shirazi was pronounced dead. The assailants fled the scene.

In 2009 Abutbul was sentenced to six years in prison for his involvement in the murder of Ra’anan Levy, 18, during a altercation at a nightclub.

Shirazi, known for links to the underworld, was the son of Rico Shirazi, a purported crime kingpin in the Sharon area. Officials described the incident as an apparent ambush by one criminal gang against another. The shooters are believed to have called the younger Shirazi and asked for a meeting, luring him into the trap.

On Sunday an explosion ripped through a car in the Tel Aviv suburb of Or Yehuda Sunday in what police suspect was a gangland assassination attempt. A 37-year-old man was severely injured in the blast, on the city’s David Elazar Street. An explosive device was apparently placed underneath the vehicle before it was set off around 8 a.m. The man’s wife and daughters, aged seven and three, were in the car at the time of the explosion and suffered light injuries, Walla news reported at the time.

It was the latest in a series of high-profile gang violence incidents.

Last Thursday police arrested three men near Ashkelon suspected of attempting to carry out a gangland assassination. Two of the suspects, Tel Aviv residents aged 41 and 33, were riding a motorcycle and had three explosive devices in their possession. They allegedly purchased the bombs from the third suspect, a 20-year-old Ashkelon resident, Israel Radio reported.

Police have waged a massive campaign over recent years to crack down on organized crime, after a wave of gangland car bombings and other assassination attempts brought the issue to the fore in 2013 and 2014.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.