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Last update - 13:34 25/11/2008
Revealed: Israeli members of global cocaine-smuggling gang arrested in Haifa
By Fadi Eyadat, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Police, Drugs, Israel News 

Haifa Police have arrested Israeli members of a gang that smuggled billions of dollars worth of cocaine internationally, it emerged Tuesday, some three months after the arrests.

As part of the investigation into the gang, police in a number of countries seized some 1.5 tons of cocaine worth around $2 billion.

The arrest of the Israeli suspects, all from the Haifa region, constitutes the biggest drugs bust ever in Israel and one of the biggest worldwide.
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The investigation began six months ago, as part of a joint operation launched by the Israel Police, Israeli customs officials and European and South American police forces.

Police caught the Israeli suspects after an undercover operation. The other members of the gang were located in Europe and Peru.

According to Chief Superintendent Michael Shafshak, the Central District Police chief, the group concealed the drugs within machines for grinding iron. He also said the suspects would stage their journeys to Peru from Israel, preferring not to travel there as a group.


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