LOD DRUG-RING LEADERS REMANDED

The Tel Aviv District Court yesterday charged Zayid
Aljarushi and Rami Wahidi with running one of the major drug dealing
stations in Lod.

The court remanded the two for two weeks until the next
hearing.

Aljarushi is considered one of the major dealers in the area who
police had been trying to build a case against for a long time,
according to police sources.

According to the charge sheet, Aljarushi supplied drugs to Hamad
Alhadi and Suleiman S'naa, the men who operated the so-called
"kaspomat" (automatic teller machine) where customers could buy drugs
through a window just like bank customers could get cash from an ATM.

Aljarushi also paid the salaries of the lookouts and salesmen who
worked there. He and Wahidi would occasionally go to the station to
pick up money and drop off drugs and check up on the operation there,
according to the charge sheet. The station sold 300-700 portions of
heroin and cocaine a day, raking in between NIS 30,000 and NIS 70,000.

Alhadi, S'naa and seven of their colleagues were charged in Tel Aviv
District Court several weeks ago. They all were arrested as part of a
special police operation, called "Orech Neshima" ("Endurance") and
headed by Dep.-Cmdr. Yossi Boker, to eradicate the drug trade in Lod
and Ramle. The operation, which began in mid-November and involves
over 200 policemen, has resulted in hundreds of arrests and the
closure of many of the major stations where drugs were bought and sold.