Police bust Israeli gang leader on Interpol Red Notice List
SOUTH Africa is not a playground for foreign criminals. Police bust Israel’s most wanted gang leader and seven others and seized 12 firearms in a house in Bryanston, Joburg.
Police also seized $40 000 (about R690 000) from the scene.
The arrest took place in the early hours of yesterday.
A team led by Interpol South Africa, Organised Crime detectives, Crime Intelligence and the Special Task Force arrested the 46-year-old Israeli gang leader attached to a criminal group in Israel called the Abergil Organisation.
Police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said the gang leader had been on Interpol’s Red Notice list since 2015. A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement bodies worldwide to find and arrest a suspect.
The gang leader is wanted in Israel on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder. According to Israeli authorities, the suspect is part of a gang dealing in drug trafficking, extortion and other criminal activities.
The suspect allegedly placed a bomb underneath a vehicle in Israel in 2003. Five people sustained serious injuries in the explosion.
In 2004, Mathe said the suspect allegedly put a bomb on top of a vehicle. The blast, which targeted the same person, left three people seriously injured.
“During an early morning takedown operation, the team pounced on an identified address in Bryanston and found the suspect and seven others.
Twelve firearms, including five assault rifles and seven pistols, $40 000, and three suspected stolen motorcycles were seized,” she said.
Mathe said law enforcement officials were still at the house.