The trial of one of three Israeli yeshiva boys charged with smuggling drugs into Japan – inside a suitcase a “friend” asked them to take for him – has begun, and the other two are to begin within weeks. Efforts to give the three legal aid, financial help and prayers have been stepped up in Jewish communities around the world.
The story began last April when the three hassidic yeshiva boys from Jerusalem and Bnei Brak, all under age 20 and one under age 18, were asked to transport some antiques from Holland to Japan. The three were part of an “acts of charity club,” and the friend who asked them for the favor, offered them $1,000 each, and assured them that everything was legal, was the coordinator of their group. They therefore suspected nothing.
Once in Amsterdam, they were given the “antiques” – concealed inside false-bottomed suitcases. Told that this was a precaution against theft, they once again suspected nothing, and flew on to Tokyo. In Japan, the false bottoms were quickly detected and broken into by customs officials – who found there not antiques, but $3.6 million worth of Ecstasy pills.