An Israeli man who was wanted for attempted murder and suspected of being a member of a mafia organisation has been apprehended, according to South African authorities.
The 46-year-old Israeli has been the target of an Interpol red alert since 2015 and is connected to a significant criminal organisation called Abergil, which is named after the brothers Meir and Yitzhak Abergil who were extradited to the US more than ten years ago.
The Isreali, according to South African police, was arrested in the early hours of the morning along with seven other suspects in a house in Bryanston, an affluent suburb north of Johannesburg.
Hoodlums wearing pajamas, sitting on the ground with their faces hidden or lying on their stomachs with their hands restrained by plastic handcuffs are depicted in photos and videos of the arrest that the police released on social media.
The South African police says that the main suspect is a member of “a known gang engaged in drug trafficking, extortion, and other criminal activity” based on intelligence from their Israeli counterparts.
In 2003 and 2004, he “allegedly placed a bomb under a man’s car in Israel on two occasions. As a result of the first explosion, five people were seriously injured, but all miraculously survived,” the statement said. In the second incident, again targeting the same person, this time he placed a bomb on the roof of a vehicle, leaving three people seriously injured.
According to the statement, the police in South Africa also seized three stolen motorcycles, 40,000 dollars, and 12 weaponry, including five assault rifles and seven pistols.