Tel Aviv Man Indicted After Selling Drugs to Undercover Officer

A 50-year-old Tel Aviv resident has been indicted for allegedly running a broad drug-dealing network across southern Israel. Police say the case was built after a focused investigation, and the indictment was filed on Sunday with 17 separate counts, including drug trafficking, possession not for personal use, and attempted trafficking.

According to the charge sheet, he coordinated many of the deals through messaging apps and social media, and sold cannabis and hashish in multiple southern towns and cities. The locations named in the indictment include Beersheba, Ofakim, Ashkelon, Sderot, Kiryat Gat, Ein HaBesor, Bat Hadar, Ruhama, Ma'agalim and Lehavim.

The indictment alleges that he carried out sales and supply events involving about 200 grams of cannabis in various amounts, as well as electronic cigarettes containing cannabis oil and several rolled cigarettes. He is also accused of selling bags of cannabis, attempting a drug deal that was not completed, and supplying drugs without payment.

As part of an undercover police operation, the suspect sold an officer posing as a buyer about 10 grams of cannabis and gave her two cannabis cigarettes. He was later arrested, and police say they found 31 rolled cannabis cigarettes, 38 cannabis packages weighing about 314 grams in total, three hashish packages weighing about 15 grams, and 3,530 shekels in cash in his car. Police say the money he received from the drug deals totaled about 8,850 shekels.