Drugs Worth 90 Million – Israeli Businessman Murdered Before Prison Term
A 57-year-old businessman from Herzliya, convicted of smuggling half a ton of synthetic drugs from China and sentenced to six years in prison, was gunned down in Lod’s Neve Yarak neighborhood. Police arrested five suspects; the investigation continues.
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The narrow street of Neve Yarak in Lod erupted in panic yesterday afternoon. A series of gunshots shattered the silence, leaving a 57-year-old businessman bleeding on the pavement. Only weeks earlier, he had been convicted of importing half a ton of the synthetic drug MDMB, a haul valued at more than 90 million shekels. His prison term was set to begin soon, but bullets cut short the sentence.
The victim, owner of a door-import business in Ashdod, had orchestrated an elaborate smuggling scheme. Behind shipments of doors and hardware from China, investigators found crates filled with drug materials and specialized machinery for mixing the substance. Customs inspectors uncovered the ruse, leading to a lengthy police investigation and a conviction.
On Tuesday, near a compound linked to one of Lod’s well-known clans, masked gunmen lay in wait and opened fire at close range. “I heard shots in the middle of prayer,” a stunned neighbor recalled. “When I ran outside, it was chaos.” Medics fought to resuscitate the victim who died en route to the hospital.
Lod police commander, Chief Superintendent Yaakov Yagen, said at the scene: “The victim was shot right here, near a clan very familiar to us in this city. The case has been handed to the Central District’s serious crime unit.” Five suspects were arrested, and investigators confirmed the motive was criminal.
For residents of Lod, another murder, the city’s 19th since the start of the year, deepens a grim reality. As one local put it: “It’s becoming the Wild West out here.”