Police arrested multiple members of the Bakri crime organization, Israel Police and the Tax Authority said.
The seven suspects, including senior members of the criminal group, were arrested and detained following an undercover investigation into suspected offenses of extortion through threats, money laundering, and a variety of tax offenses.
The investigation was directed by the Tax Authority and the Money Laundering Prohibition Authority, and the suspects were brought to Lahav 433 – The National Crime Unit for interrogation following the arrests.
Monday’s arrest operation was carried out in cooperation with the Haifa Customs and VAT Investigation Unit at the Tax Authority, the Money Laundering Prohibition Authority, and the Northern District Attorney’s Office.
The suspects had been extorting victims through blackmail, committing tax evasion, and distributing fictitious invoices for two years, illegally obtaining millions of shekels, police and the Tax Authority said.
Previous investigations into the Bakri crime organization
Following the initial investigation, the suspects will be brought to the Nazareth Magistrate’s Court for a remand hearing.
In early December, police arrested additional Bakri members, as well as businesspeople and some municipal officials in Nazareth on similar suspicion of involvement with extortion, money laundering, and municipal financial manipulation schemes, according to police.
Northern District Commander Commissioner Meir Eliyahu described the Bakri crime organization as one “that engaged in extortion of businesses, in murder incidents, and inserted its hands into a municipal authority with the intention of toppling the authority and squeezing it to its last drop of blood.”
Fraidy Moser and Maariv contributed to this report.