Two major crime rings are on the verge of collapse after their heads, Yitzhak and Meir Abergil and Ze'ev Rosenstein, were arrested following an extensive American investigation, according to an internal police document obtained by Haaretz.
However, the document also states that due to budgetary shortfalls, the police are having difficulty closing intelligence gaps that would help them thwart hits and convict crime bosses.
The document, which summarizes the police work of recent years against 11 crime organizations, reveals that the police Investigations and Intelligence Branch needs NIS 325 million to increase their harvest of intelligence information from wire-taps and cellular lines, and for electronic surveillance of rooms, offices, cars and planes used by senior organized crime figures. The police are also encountering difficulty conducting surveillance of computerized networks and e-mail correspondence of various suspects and persons of interest.
The police have been saying in recent months that a significant gap exists between police capabilities in favor of those of the crime families, which the police have been unable to close. The result is that over the years, investigative teams have been unable to collect sensitive intelligence information that would allow them to stop crimes before they are committed.
The lack of surveillance means has also hampered the ability to collect evidence that can be used to legally tie organized crime figures to suspected crimes and obtain convictions.
Organizing against organized crime
Over the past two years, police have committed much larger numbers of personnel to fight organized crime, in an effort to thwart violent attacks between members of organized crime families. Concern has increased over the threat to innocent civilians from explosive charges aimed against rival groups and set to explode in crowded public areas.
In the face of dozens of attempted and successful assassinations of underworld figures, police have managed to thwart six such attempts: In April 2006, police arrested two people who planted a bomb in the car of the wife of crime figure Eli Arish in Jerusalem; in January 2007, a member of the Michael Mor crime family was arrested with a gun near the home of the son of Nahariya's mayor; in May 2007, police thwarted the attempted assassination of Nissim Alperon in Ramat Gan; in July 2007, a member of the Abergil organization was arrested on his way to a hit on the Mosli crime organization; and last month Amir Mulner was arrested along with ten of his men. Mulner was in possession of a of a hand gun fitted with a silencer and was allegedly planning a hit. This month, Nissim Alperon and four of his men were arrested with a gun.
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