Suth Africa Police Arrest Israel's Most Wanted Fugitive
South Africa Police Thursday morning arrested Israel’s most wanted fugitive and discovered a van outfitted for torture and assassination, a signal jammer, a drone and drugs at a property in upmarket Bryanston, Johannesburg.
Police announced finding a cache of arms and stacks of money, including American dollars.
A multidisciplinary team of specialised police officers pounced on the wanted Israeli mobster and seven others at around 02:00 hours, News24 reported citing Major-General Shadrack Sibiya. He said at the property on Thursday afternoon:
It’s been a months-long investigation. Imagine going through those gates knowing there are snipers and things.
Among several vehicles in the driveway was a delivery van. Unassuming from the outside, the white vehicle had been transformed, with thick soundproof covering the interior, according to News24.
There was also a cream-coloured table with a chair firmly attached inside.
Sibiya claimed the van was used to transport a sniper and for torture.
A newer delivery vehicle was standing in the car park. It is believed this van was to be transformed next.
A task force member said the team began its operation at 22:00 on Wednesday before it struck in the early morning hours. Said the specialised officer:
There’s nothing good in this house. You go to the couch, and there’s a gun on the side, there guns in the bedrooms – an AK-47 upstairs, guns in the garage.
Sibiya said the police found:
1). a signal jammer,
2). a drone
3). GPS tracking devices.
4). a number of laptops,
5). cellphones – smartphone devices and burner phones – and an iPad.
6). six motorcycles, three of which were stolen.
7). US$40 000, an undisclosed amount of Israeli shekels and two money-counting machines.
8). about two or three kilograms of cocaine.
9). An undisclosed amount of MDMA or ecstasy.
10). 19 firearms, including two AK-24s with double magazines, a mini-Ruger with a silencer, an assault rifle with a silencer, four 9mm Glocks, and two Ruby revolvers. Several silencers were also found, as well as three bullet-proof vests.
The 46-year-old man is believed to be connected to a criminal syndicate in Israel called the Abergil Organisation, which has been linked to drug trafficking, extortion and other criminal activities.