Police Shut Down Tel Aviv Nightclub After Seizing Drugs in Raid

The police raided and closed Tel Aviv's Breakfast Club early Friday, seizing drugs and arresting two of the nightclub's owners and four others — the second time the venue has been shut down.

In the raid, the police discovered cocaine, crystal meth, marijuana, hashish and ecstasy. "The Israel Police will continue to act against clubs where drugs are used publicly and callously," a police spokesman said.

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As one visitor to the club, who gave an initial as K., put it, "They told us the party was over and they were closing the place for the night. About 10 policemen entered with a dog and asked us all to move."

He said the police blocked the exits and searched the visitors to the club, which is at the bottom of Rothschild Boulevard. Over 15 minutes or so, the police brought people out one by one.

"The police were relatively gentle, to their credit," K. said. "But they took a few people into another part of the club and I didn't see what they did to them."

Another visitor, who was detained at the scene for a few hours, said the police treated him with disrespect.

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"I was stripped, frisked and called 'filth,'" he said. "Some of us were handcuffed. One of the police officers grabbed me by the cheeks and ordered me to stay quiet unless I was spoken to. We were treated like criminals. It was humiliating and aggressive."

During a police raid two years ago, several people at the Breakfast Club were detained for questioning, including one of the club's owners. The venue was shut down for days but no indictments were filed.

On Wednesday night, the police shut down another Tel Aviv nightclub, Radio EPGB, after a fight broke out in which one person was lightly injured. At a hearing Thursday, it was decided to close the place for a week. The police said the club's owner had been warned following a similar incident two months ago.