Avraham Malachi, 39, of Netanya, whom police identified as the ringleader; Samuel Samuel, 48, originally from Lod and described as the go-between

Four Argentine retirees who made their way to the Netherlands and India from South America allegedly served as couriers in an international drug-smuggling ring thought headed by five Israelis.
Although the retirees initially failed to arouse the suspicion of border police at airports around the world, the Argentines and all five of the Israelis have been arrested in recent weeks. Advertisement An undercover operation lasting more than a year conducted by the Israel police and police departments in other countries found the couriers to have been a lot more than innocents abroad. The four were reportedly caught with large quantities of cocaine and Indian hashish. Suspects were identified as Avraham Malachi, 39, of Netanya, whom police identified as the ringleader; Samuel Samuel, 48, originally from Lod and described as the go-between in Holland; Moshe Luver, 67, of Netanya, said to have recruited the Argentinean drug runners; Viteli Hanukyeb, 28, of Netanya, alleged to have organized the network's operations in India; and Asher Zurik, 20, Malachi's brother-in-law and the one responsible for helping the couriers to move around in South America and India. Conducted in coordination with South American and European police, the investigation uncovered remarkable methods used to hide the drugs, such as stashing just under 10 kilograms of cocaine in more than 1,900 buttons - a measure that was of no help to the elderly drug runner arrested last April at the airport in Lima, Peru. In December, police in Amsterdam uncovered 52kg. of Indian cannabis hidden in suitcases. The network allegedly recruited elderly drug runners, hoping their age would deflect suspicion. It was said to have paid three - Argentinean nationals named as Manuel Maria Mellone, 66; Gerardo Federico Harmeye, 68; and Justo Fernando Brito, 49 - € 5,000 for each smuggling run. The Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court extended the custody of the Israeli suspects until February 22.

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Preston Beverly is being held on charges of drug possession, resisting arrest

Officers recognized Preston Beverly and tried to arrest him outside the gates of the stadium. They say Beverly then ran into an open field. Amsterdam police say a man wanted for failing to show up in court, showed up to the Amsterdam high football game with 37 bags of heroin on him. When police caught up to him, they say he refused to be handcuffed.One of those officers was hurt and then treated at St. Mary's hospital with a leg injury. Beverly is being held on charges of drug possession, resisting arrest, and his original charge, failure to appear.

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Priest smuggling Cocaine

Amsterdam airport officials have arrested a man who claimed to be a priest for trying to smuggle packets of cocaine hidden in his robes which he said was holy sand, Dutch military police said Friday.
The man, who said he ran a monastery in Bolivia, initially refused to be body searched citing religious grounds, police said in a statement.
But after a search the military police, responsible for security at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, found he had packets taped to his legs.
The suspect said he was carrying holy sand but tests showed he was actually carrying three kilos (6.6 pounds) of cocaine, and he was arrested.

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capsule swallowers

Dutch police confirmed close ties between Nigerian email scammers and drug smugglers from the Dutch Antilles
Drugs traffickers from Latin America have been using the Caribbean island group as a transit point from Colombia. Up to 25,000 drugs smugglers are believed to take this transatlantic route every year. They are known as bolletjesslikkers (capsule swallowers) as they swallow tiny drug capsules to hide the drugs from customs at Amsterdam Airport.
Many drugs and legal experts have urged police to focus on drug lords rather than arrest the petty criminals who smuggle the drugs. Those drug lords may well be Nigerians and Colombians, Dutch police now say. Money taken from victims in e mail scams is used to finance narcotics smuggling, the Unusual Transactions Reporting Centre of the Netherlands believes. In 2001 alone more than 900 Nigerians applied for a Dutch visa from the Antilles.
Wednesday’s crackdown dealt a heavy blow to advance fee fraud in the Netherlands. Last year a Dutch court sentenced five African email swindlers to between 300 days and 4.5 years, after a Swiss lecturer forked over 482,000 dollars on the promise of a $9 million return. The 52 people arrested Wednesday could face similar sentences.
Now that Amsterdam is no longer a safe haven for Nigerian scammers, experts believe they may pack up their bags and head out elsewhere. The Reg already noticed some changes in the daily floods of congratulatory letters enticing consumers to buy chances in high-stakes lotteries. Until recently, most of these letters originated from Amsterdam. These days most letters are sent through Telefonica from Madrid, Spain.

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