Police carry out drugs, arms raid in Arab village

Officers arrest 5 men in northern Arab village suspected of involvement in violent crimes, drugs and firearms offenses.

By BEN HARTMAN
arrest 311 R (photo credit: REUTERS/Eric Gaillard )
arrest 311 R
(photo credit: REUTERS/Eric Gaillard )
Police conducted a large raid in the northern village of Rameh and arrested five men suspected of involvement in a series of violent crimes and drug and firearm offenses, Northern District Police said on Tuesday.
Police said the raid targeted the Abu-Latif family, which has been involved in a feud with the Jizawi family that has led to a number of violent incidents – including murder – in recent years.
Over a year ago, Northern District chief Roni Atiya handed over the investigation to the northern branch of the YAMAR investigative unit, which ran a year-and-ahalf undercover investigation that led to Tuesday’s raid.
During the operation, YAMAR detectives backed by officers from the YASSAM special patrol unit, Border Police, canine units and police sappers raided a compound run by the Abu-Latif family, during which they arrested a man they said heads the family’s organized crime operations.
Police also managed to seize nine cars worth a total of more than NIS 6 million, in addition to a large amount of cash and drugs, they reported Tuesday.
The five suspects are aged 27 to 41 and are from Rameh and other nearby villages.
They face weapon and drug charges and also stand to be charged with conspiracy, with ties to a number of violent incidents in the North over the past few years.
All suspects were brought to the Nazareth Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, where police are expected to argue to keep them in custody until an indictment is issued.
“The operation this morning is part of an ongoing investigation, carried out in our unrelenting campaign to fight violent crime and the use of firearms that have left a number of victims in their wake,” Atiya said.
“Our goal is to return the sense of personal security to the residents and to bring those criminals responsible to justice,” he said.