Ephraim 'Freddy' Ran, a former member of a major drug trafficking ring, was shot dead in Tel Aviv yesterday morning by a gunman riding a motorcycle. The assailant is still at large.

Ran, 60, of Tel Aviv, was standing at the corner of Aliyah and Wolfson Streets in south Tel Aviv at about 9 A.M. when a motorcycle pulled up and its rider shot him several times. 'I was passing by on my motor scooter when I suddenly heard several shots,' said witness Avner Neuman. 'I turned my head to the right and saw a motorcyclist holding a gun and shooting at a man who was already lying on the sidewalk. I heard the victim screaming, and people were standing around. The motorcyclist fled immediately.'

Police and Magen David Adom paramedics arrived within minutes. The paramedics evacuated Ran, who died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Policemen searched the area for the perpetrator, without success.

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Ran, who was working as an art curator, had previously been involved in a major drug trafficking operation in the United States that netted several Israelis terms of life imprisonment, according to investigators.

The drug trafficking affair occurred about 20 years ago. The Israelis who were involved were known as the 'New York gang,' and they engaged in drug transport, gambling and extorting protection money. At one point, the gang members began fighting among themselves, and people on both sides were murdered. A few were imprisoned in the U.S. on drug charges. Some turned state's evidence. Two of the gang members were tried in Israel, where five former associates testified after serving time in the U.S.

Over the past few years, members who had finished their U.S. sentences returned to Israel, and apparently also to crime; and revenge. Criminal Israel Mizrahi was murdered on Herzl Street in Tel Aviv, while Nello Hershko was murdered while asleep in his bed. No suspect has been arrested in either case.