A prostitute in Israel [illustrative].
Photo: AP
Photo: AP
Members of the network allegedly worked over the past few years to import hundreds of women from the Former Soviet Union into Israel and Cyprus in order to use them as prostitutes, often coaxing them with false promises and in some cases threatening them.
When the members of the network suspected one of the women was planning to file a complaint, they allegedly used severe violence to silence her and are also alleged to have run over to death a woman who was planning to turn to the police. The women were allegedly smuggled into Israel through the border with Egypt and an airport in Turkey, and in at least one case, one of them was beaten in order to be "convinced" to go on the trip.
The purported leader of the network is a known felon and a member of one of Israel's crime families, police said. He allegedly contacted local criminals in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and Uzbekistan, who then contacted young women from local villages and promised them employment in Israel and Cyprus as waitresses and dancers.
Fear of being captured by the police forced the gang members to close shop in Israel and move to Cyprus, but an agent who was formerly a criminal associated with them brought about their capture. Police are seeking to extend the remand of the main suspect, a 35-year-old resident of the North, as well as the other 11 detainees.