Two arrested on suspicion of cocaine smuggling

By REBECCA STOIL
Two suspects, including a professor at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, were arrested Monday afternoon under suspicion of smuggling cocaine from Argentina to Israel. The Central Investigative Unit of the Negev District followed a suspicious package, initially spotted by the customs authorities, as it changed hands. Upon examination, the package was found to contain a thermos in which was hidden 350 grams of cocaine. One of the suspects, Avraham Dagan, a 60-year-old professor at the Institute for Veterinary Research at the Beersheba-based university, was suspected to have longstanding relationship with the other suspect, Sana Zaid. Zaid, a 37-year-old resident of Tarabin, was already known to the police for previous criminal activity. The professor said that Zaid had asked him to receive packages from overseas at his residence, and that the package that aroused customs agents' suspicions was not the first such package that he had received. The two were brought before a Beersheba Magistrates' Court for a remand extension. Zaid's remand was extended by 10 days, while Dagan's was extended by three days.