Indictments have been filed against 22 suspects in weapons and drug offenses exposed by a police agent

Indictments have been filed against 22 suspects in weapons and drug offenses exposed by a police agent

The Central District Attorney’s Office today (Sunday) filed two indictments in the Central District Court, one for drug offenses and the other for weapons offenses, against 22 defendants whose activities were exposed through a police agent. The total arms transactions that took place between the defendants and the agent amount to NIS 715,000, while the total drug transactions that took place between the defendants and the agent amount to NIS 180,000. The agent’s work was carried out as part of increased enforcement activity by the police and the State Attorney’s Office for the war on crime, and in particular for the war on weapons offenses.

During the period from September 2020 to January 2022, an undercover police agent acted with the aim of carrying out controlled transactions of trade in weapons and drugs. During the period of the agent’s activity, the defendants in the indictment traded in weapons and ammunition, as well as dangerous drugs, jointly and severally. According to the indictments, which were filed by attorneys Omar Segal-Rosenbaum and Eliran Ashkenazi of the Central District Attorney’s Office (criminal), the police agent contacted the defendants, some on the basis of prior acquaintance and others on the basis of a random meeting or through additional defendants. The first indictment, attributes to 16 defendants various offenses in the field of weapons. Fifteen of the defendants are residents of Kafr Qassem, while another defendant is a resident of the Palestinian Authority.

According to the indictment, the agent introduced himself as someone who was interested in purchasing various weapons from them while the defendants provided him with the weapons in exchange for sums of money determined between the parties in relation to each transaction, as detailed in the indictment. Some of the transactions were made between the agent and one of the defendants while other transactions involved a number of defendants who were conducted with the agent for the purpose of executing the transaction. In some cases, the defendants even presented the agent with pictures of the supply of weapons in their possession, so that he could be impressed and choose the weapons he wanted to purchase from them. In other cases, and in order to prove to the agent that the weapon sold was in good working order, the defendants fired hotly at the weapon, sometimes in residential areas and in a manner that could endanger human life.

Some of the weapons sold to the agent were brought by some of the defendants from the territories of the Palestinian Authority and brought into Israeli territory by them. The total transactions made by the defendants with the agent is NIS 715,000. The indictment attributes to the 16 defendants offenses of trafficking in weapons together, carrying weapons and possession of weapons, attempting to trade in weapons together and firing firearms, each according to his share. In addition, three of the defendants are also charged with the offense of violating a legal provision, after violating restrictive conditions in which they were subject to previous instructions of the court. Another defendant is charged with the offense of entering and staying in Israel illegally, after entering and staying in Israel without holding an entry or residence permit in Israel.

Simultaneously with the indictment, a request for detention until the end of the proceedings was also filed against the defendants, as well as a request for confiscation of property seized by the defendants. The arrest request states that: “The facts of the indictment paint a picture according to which the respondents, some in a joint venture and some themselves, acted professionally to carry out trade in various weapons, in a way that attests to being addictive as an occupation for them, for economic needs, and indifferent to life. Man, for public safety and the tangible dangers of their actions towards innocent people. “

The second indictment, attributes to 6 defendants, 5 of them residents of Kfar Qassem and one resident of Lod, various offenses in the field of drugs. According to the indictment, the agent introduced himself as someone interested in purchasing dangerous drugs from them such as cocaine, ecstasy and MDMA while the defendants supplied him with the drugs at his request and in exchange for sums of money determined between the parties prior to each transaction, as stated in the indictment. The total transactions made by the defendants with the agent is NIS 180,000. The indictment attributes to the six defendants offenses of trafficking in a dangerous drug and possession of a drug not for personal consumption, each according to his share. Simultaneously with the indictment, a request for detention until the end of the proceedings was also filed against the defendants, as well as a request for confiscation of property seized by them under the Drugs Ordinance.

The State Attorney’s Office stated: “The indictments filed today are the result of hard and prolonged work by the police and the State Attorney’s Office. The activation of the police agent and the accompaniment of the investigation by the State Attorney’s since its inception are part of the expansion of the fight against the effects of drug trafficking and illegal weapons and the danger involved. The actions of the defendants as well as the large volume of transactions, testify to the dangerousness and daring of the defendants and the lack of fear of the law. The prosecution will continue the uncompromising fight against crime, and in particular the fight against the phenomenon of illegal weapons, which has long been a scourge of the state. “

Indictments have been filed against 22 suspects in weapons and drug offenses exposed by a police agent
Illustration. Credit: freepik

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