The head of a crime syndicate from the north, as well as an engineer and contractor, were arrested by Israel Police forces on Sunday on suspicion of involvement in extortion of more than NIS 25 million.
The crime lord and other suspects were taken in for questioning and are set to be brought before a court hearing to extend their custody in police custody.
According to Maarivpending crime syndicate abu latif crime ring, It is one of Israel’s largest and most notorious criminal organizations, along with the Ramle-based Zarushi crime family.
What was the Israeli crime gang involved in?
According to police officers from the financial crimes unit of Lahav 443, the suspects are accused of allegedly extorting money by threatening contractors. Tender given by Ministry of Defense, The tender was worth some NIS 25 million and would have seen the contractors working on a construction project at a school in Carmel.
The suspects allegedly forced the winning contractors to transfer the tender to a contractor linked to the crime syndicate, which the suspects are involved in.
One of the winning contractors later filed a complaint about threats he received from suspects after winning another tender from the Ministry of Defense for the construction of a security barrier on the Lebanese border.
The tender was held two years ago, but due to threats of extortion, no construction work has been started till now.
According to police, the Abu Latif organization is linked to numerous crimes committed in northern Israel. The organization is suspected to be linked to the collection of protection rackets, involvement in public tenders, hostile takeover of businesses, shooting incidents and several murders.
In early February, Israel Police forces raided the Abu Latif criminal organization as part of an investigation that revealed tax evasion of billions of shekels. This investigation was known internally “Black Billion” Investigation and ended in the arrest of 21 suspects.