Israeli police have arrested two young Jerusalem men in the Japan Hassidic drug-smuggling case.
The names of the arrested Israelis, who behave like hareidi-religious men, are Ben-Tzion Miller and Yisrael Eisenbach. Miller was arrested at his place of work in the Orange Cellular Phone offices in Givat Sha’ul in Jerusalem; six plainclothesmen informed the office manager of their presence, and suddenly jumped on the stocky Miller, handcuffed him, spirited him into a car and drove off.
The two are suspected of being instrumental in a scam of three Hassidic yeshiva boys. The three were asked by “a friend” – apparently named Rotter - to take a package from Amsterdam to Japan. Japanese authorities found $3.6 million worthy of Ecstasy pills in the suitcases’ false bottoms.
The three Hassidic youths, given $1,000 each for their efforts, were asked to transport antiques. When they received the “antiques” in Amsterdam, they were told that the packages had been placed in the false bottoms of three suitcases – one for each of them - “in order to prevent breakage or theft.”
The Tel Aviv Magistrates Court ruled on Monday that Eisenbach would remain in custody for three days, and Miller for a week. Eisenbach said that in the past, he refused to take a similar package of “antiques” himself. Rotter is now hiding in a north-western European country, and Israel is expected to ask for his extradition very soon.
The three boys, having all passed lie-detector tests, are now on trial in Japan and face many years in prison. The trial of one of them, a minor, has ended, and a verdict is expected next month.
Attorney Mordechai Tzivin of Tel Aviv, legal counsel for the other two boys, told IsraelNationalNews that the police are now investigating all of Miller’s cell-phone and SMS contacts.
Tzivin, who specializes in representing Israelis arrested abroad, added, “It is good that the Israeli police have finally decided to arrest suspects in this case, after having known their identities for a while. This, together with many other facts and circumstances in this case, proves clearly that the boys in Japan were misled, and that their naivety and sincerity were abused by people who were their total opposite. The facts show that the boys are completely innocent, and could not have guessed – and certainly could not have known – that they were carrying drugs.”
Though often criticized in Israel for their naivety, the boys are the subject of prayers in religious Jewish communities all over the world, which are also helping to raise money for their legal costs. Their names are: Yaakov Yosef ben Raizel, Yoel Zev ben Mirel Risa Chava, and Yosef ben Ita Rivka.