Friends of Ours

Busting The Israeli Mafia

Israel reports some progress in busting the country's 16 identified crime families:

These families include five major "national"-level groups, and 11 smaller organizations. * * * The government decided to make fighting organized crime a priority in January 2006. In the past two years that the police have been doing so, most of the criminal organizations have suffered substantive losses. Eight were "cracked" by the various police investigative units, and the organizations of Ze'ev Rozenstein and the Aberjil brothers were so badly damaged that it is unlikely they will recover, a police source said. A unit called Lahav 443, which was established last year by several national-level police units, was charged with taking down the five big crime families in Israel: the Aberjil, Abutbul, Mulner, Shirazi and Dumrani syndicates. * * * The brothers Yitzhak and Meir Aberjil, who head Israel's most powerful organized crime syndicate, were arrested last August following an American extradition request. Three of their top assistants are also on the extradition list. According to the extradition request, the Aberjil brothers are suspected of involvement in drug smuggling, racketeering and extortion. Yitzhak Aberjil is also suspected of involvement in the murder of Samy Attias, an Israeli drug courier, in the United States. All five are awaiting a court decision on the extradition. The syndicate run by Asi Abutbul also has suffered substantial setbacks due to police action. In 2007 Asi Abutbul was arrested along with six other senior figures on suspicions of running a crime syndicate. The police confiscated items worth NIS 7 million from the group. The police have also uncovered several assassination plots involving Abutbul family members. Adam Abutbul was arrested over an assassination attempt against Zion Rubin, the brother of Reut Rubin, a key witness against the Abutbul family in the murder of Ra'anan Levy. Also, a search last September near the home of family member Aviv Abutbul turned up weapons and a grenade. Aviv Abutbul has been under house arrest since then. Amir Mulner, who heads a group whose strength has grown significantly over the past two years, according to police, is now under arrest for the duration of legal proceedings against him. He is accused of illegal arms possession and conspiracy to commit a crime.

News: Mose Esposito; Marco Assengnati; & Aviv Abutbul

***  Italian police have arrested Mose Esposito who allegedly is tied to the notorious Giuseppe Setola.  Setola is the alleged head of a "murder squad" run by the Casalesi clan of the Camorra or Neapolitan Mafia.  Esposito also is the step-brother of a jailed Camorrista suspected of partipating in the massacre ordered by Setola of six West African immigrants last September near Caserta.

***  Spanish police have arrested Marco Assegnati, a reputed leader of the Camorra, in the central Spanish town of Escalona where he "was living in a chalet . . . and running his clan's criminal activities":

Assegnati was on the Italian Foreign Ministry's list of the 100 most wanted mobsters. The suspect was the subject of a Europe-wide arrest warrant for belonging to an organization engaged in trafficking drugs and arms, as well as participating in extortion schemes and other criminal activities. * * * Assegnati had been in Spain since at least 2003 and operated an auto sales business based in Madrid. The reputed mobster also owned a dealership in the northwestern Spanish city of Vigo, where he traveled regularly to throw both police and members of rival clans within the Camorra off his trail.

***  In Israel "Aviv Abutbul, son of alleged crime family head Charlie Abutbul, is expected to be indicted for illegal possession of a firearm":

Abutbul was arrested by the National Fraud Unit during a December 11 raid on his home. The raid uncovered an improvised gun that was loaded and equipped with a silencer.

Israel Cracks Down On Mobsters

Israeli police have arrested Aviv Abutbul:

Abutbul was charged with possession of an improvised gun loaded with a bullet and a silencer. He is the third underworld figure to be charged with possession of a firearm and silencer in recent weeks, after Nissim Alperon, brother the late Ya'acov Alperon, and Amir Mulner, who is a suspect in Aleron's car-bomb slaying last month, were arrested under similar charges.

Aviv is the son of Netanya-based crime family head Charlie Abutbul.  Charlie was shot by two gunmen last September in an incident that also wounded three bystanders.

Earlier this week Nati Ohayon, the 27-year-old brother-in-law of Francois and Asis Abutbul, was assassinated by gunmen who fled on a motorcycle as he sat with an associate in his car.

On Wednesday "Netanya police launched a series of raids on organized crime hubs . . . targeting three gambling houses and searching the homes of suspects who launder money for crime organizations":

The move came as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held a special meeting in his office to discuss the battle against organized crime. The police action in Netanya was joined by the Central Unit's Special Patrol Officers and Border Police officers, who recovered a large number of checks, documents, computers and diaries "showing suspicious criminal financial activities," police said. Drugs of various kinds were also seized in the raid, as well as weapons and items police suspect are stolen. Five suspects said to be linked to organized crime were also charged with traffic offenses, police added.