Police
investigators from the YAHBAL serious and international crimes unit
and investigators from the Tax Authority arrested dozens of suspects in
Eilat on Tuesday, as part of a major sweep against organized crime in
the southern city.
Police said the 30 suspects were wanted in connection
to a litany of serious crimes carried out in the city over the past
years, including murder, extortion, and money laundering.
At the same time that investigators were carrying out the raids in
Eilat, detectives from the Negev branch of the YAMAR central
investigative unit arrested 32 suspects as part of an undercover sting
against a separate organized crime family.
Like the Eilat organization, the suspects in the
Beersheba raid were being investigated in a large-scale organized crime
case involving charges of murder, extortion, and money laundering.
During the raids Tuesday morning, police said they seized tens of
thousands of shekels in cash and several automobiles.