Police arrest 2 ultra-Orthodox Jews for smuggling $1 million of cocaine in airport drug bust
By APThursday, July 8, 2010
Drug bust at Israel airport, Hasidic Jews arrested
JERUSALEM — Police say they’ve arrested a pair of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men suspected of trying to smuggle $1 million of pure cocaine into Israel from Brazil.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said on Thursday that the two former seminary students, aged 21 and 20, were stopped at Israel’s international airport overnight.
He says police officers found about 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of cocaine in their luggage.
Rosenfeld says police had been tracking the two men for some time. He says Israeli police informed their Brazilian counterparts ahead of time to help identify the pair’s suppliers.
Police say the cocaine was headed to the Israeli market. Israeli police estimate its street value at around $1 million.
