Last update - 00:00 09/05/2007
Postal Authority employees suspected of drug smuggling
By Roni Zinger-Heruti, Haaretz Correspondents
Police have arrested 14 people suspected of smuggling narcotics, Viagra pills, cellular phones, and fashion accessories into the country. Several of the suspects are Postal Authority employees.
The covert investigation was initiated two months ago following the interception of a Cocaine shipment from Argentina.
"When the package arrived, we waited to see who would pick it up and, indeed, a couple of days later two suspects arrived to pick up the package, which contained a kilogram of Cocaine," said Tel Aviv Police investigator Moshe Rachamim.
The Postal Service employees were implicated after investigators noticed that the names listed as the package's recipients were fictitious names that didn't match the names of the people who picked it up. The fact that the postal workers knew who the package was intended for despite the name discrepancy, indicates thay they were part of the smuggling operation.
As the police continued their covert investigation they discovered that the postal employees were involved in several other smuggling operations, including the smuggling of Viagra pills, cellular phones, and fashion accessories, mostly from China.
A police spokesperson said that the postal workers had received bribes in exchange for their help, and that the smuggling operations had been going on for at least a year.
Following the investigation, ten of the suspects confessed to the allegations against them. The four other suspects were released.