Israeli Youths Arrested For Drug Smuggling: Lawyer Says They Were Duped

[Mulboyne]

YNet: 3 Israeli youths arrested for drug trafficking in Japan
Three Israeli youths were arrested in Japan over the weekend after local authorities seized what they called "an unprecedented amount" of narcotics concealed in artifacts they were transporting in a suitcase. An attorney for one of the detainees, Mordechai Tzibin, said the group had fallen victim to a con maneuver which had taken advantage of their naiveté and tricked them into unknowingly trafficking the drugs. The youths have been held at the Narita International Airport near Tokyo since Friday, two of them are under the age of 20 and are considered minors by Japanese law. One of the three is less than 18-years-old – making him a minor under Israeli law as well. Tzibin said the boys were clearly victims of a sting. "The proof of this," he said, "is that they told their friends all about the trip." The attorney says that while in Israel the youths were approached a man who offered to fund their plane tickets and accommodations in Europe in exchange for "a small service." The boys were instructed to fly to Amsterdam, where they would be met by another man who was to entrust them with a suitcase containing ancient artifacts, which they would then transport to Japan and hand over to a third party...more...

[Doohickie]

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Or, beware of people unexpectedly paying large sums of money for anything.

[Mulboyne]

Arutz Sheva: Yeshiva Boy Jailed in Japan Writes Encouragement

A letter written by a yeshiva boy imprisoned in Japan for apparently-unwitting drug-trafficking contains pages of spiritual encouragement. The youth has been imprisoned in Japan since April of this year, together with two friends. The three are yeshiva students from Bnei Brak and Jerusalem, and were arrested after Japanese authorities said they found "an unprecedented amount" of narcotics concealed in artifacts inside their suitcase. An attorney for one of the detainees, Mordechai Tzibin, said they had fallen victim to a hareidi-looking trickster who paid them to take "ancient holy Jewish books" to Japan.

Trial to Begin in a Month
The trial of the 20-year-old youths is set to begin within a month. They are charged with drug trafficking - the Japanese authorities do not believe their claim that they did not know what was hidden inside the books - and face a possible sentence of several years in prison." While the youths await trial, their jail conditions are described as merely "difficult," especially in terms of being able to fulfill the religious obligations of avoiding non-kosher food and wearing tefillin. If they are ultimately convicted, however, the conditions are expected to worsen significantly. Japanese prison conditions are known to be cruel, including hard labor, beatings, solitary confinement, long periods in which the prisoners are barely permitted to move or are restrained with handcuffs, and the like. A glimmer of hope is that one or two of the youths were under age 20 when arrested, and were therefore still considered minors according to Japanese law. Israeli authorities hope that they will be able to reach an agreement with Japan, as has been done in the past, that in the event of conviction, the sentences will be served in Israeli jail. Arrangements for such can only begin, however, once a conviction is handed down - and then are expected to take a few months.

The 8-Page Letter
The eight-page letter written by Yaakov Yosef, and published first on the Hebrew-language religious news website Ladaat.net, avoids mention of the physical and spiritual hardships he and his friends are undergoing, "in order to avoid hurting you"...more...

[kurohinge1]

They could while away the time writing a backpacking guide (like "Let's Go") on travelling in Japan with concealed drugs.

They could call it "Let's Blow".

[dimwit]

NONE of the Israeli jewelry sellers I meet would EVER be invovled in drugs. They pay off the cops too much to get caught. My question is who tipped off or didn't pay off the right people resulting in these hamsters getting arrested?

[Behan]

The oldest one is only twenty so I would suspect that maybe they were used and didn't know what they were doing. It would take a pretty world-wise youngster like that to try to smuggle drugs through an airport.

Even if they had an idea that they were doing something illegal, I would also wonder if they weren't pushed into doing it.

[Greji]

Even if they had an idea that they were doing something illegal, I would also wonder if they weren't pushed into doing it.

I can't buy that. How young and/or dumb does one have to be to have someone say "I'm going to provide you with this great trip and expenses, but you gotta do this little favor for me" and not think anything strange might be going on?

It would seem like ordinary curiosity should make them want to look in the bag to see what they're hauling.

Maybe, I'm just being an old fuddy duddy, but all of these "I was just doing a favor for someone", excuses about someone they hardly knew, or they didn't know at all, don't wash.

[American Oyaji]

I'm not sure, but the person who asked was posing as some sort of Jewish holy man. Someone ULTRA orthodox who they wouldn't suspect

[Greji]

I'm not sure, but the person who asked was posing as some sort of Jewish holy man. Someone ULTRA orthodox who they wouldn't suspect

Oh oh! Iraira have you been any where on vacation again?

[Iraira]

Oh oh! Iraira have you been any where on vacation again?

Customs got wise to the old "hide the stash under the yamulke" technique. Maybe Mr. Customs Man is smarter than we give him credit for: after strip searching the nice religious Jewish lads, maybe Mr. Customs Man detected foreskin which made him suspicious? Or maybe Mr. Customs Man found a package of pork rinds in the nice religious Jewish lads' luggage?

I always hide my stuff in hollowed out matzo balls and my bong looks like a kishke, so no Japanese customs officer wants to get within 20 meters of it.



it comes out the other end looking pretty much the same.

[Mulboyne]

[Mulboyne]

YNet: Japanese court sends Israeli to prison for possession of drugs

A Japanese court has sentenced Y, one of three Israeli caught with 90,000 ecstasy pills there last year, to eight years in prison and a $40,000 fine. Y, who was a minor when he committed the offense, hopes to be able to carry out the sentence in Israel. In April 2008 three ultra-Orthodox Israelis were arrested at the airport in Japan with a suitcase containing the massive number of ecstasy pills. Their attorneys claimed the arrests were the product of a sting operation that took advantage of the youths' innocence and that they had been enticed with money. Y's eight-year sentence provides that after he has completed five years of his prison term he will be brought before a committee that will discuss his case and determine whether or not he can be released on good behavior. Also, two-thirds of the time he has already spent in lockup pending trial will be recognized as part of his prison term. He is hoping to be brought to Israel to complete the term. The trials of the other two Israelis involved in the case, Yoel Goldstein and Yosef Greenwald, is scheduled to begin in six weeks. The two continue to claim they believed the suitcase contained archaeological artifacts. "I hope the court in Japan will reach the conclusion that my clients were not aware and could not have been aware that they were in possession of drugs," attorney Mordechai Tzivin told Ynet. "We trust Japan's fair legal system and its humanitarian conduct." He said officials in Israel were involved in the case. "The conduct of the State Prosecution's International Department was positive from the get-go, cooperated in all manners, and you could not have asked for better results than what has happened," he said.

[omae mona]

It is hard to tell from the article, but it almost sounds as if the convicted youth's attorneys have admitted that he knew he was carrying drugs but was unable to resist the money offered to him. Even if so, I seriously would question its truth. My gut feeling is that Japanese defense attorneys are almost as likely to extract false confessions as the police..

[Mulboyne]

Yeshiva Student Jailed in Japan May Transfer to Israel

The youngest of the three Yeshiva students imprisoned in Japan for drug trafficking may serve the remainder of his term in Israel, according to a Yeshiva World News report which quotes unconfirmed sources. A Japanese justice minister signed a request from Israeli officials which will permit the student to serve his term in Israel, the report said. The official request was signed by Israeli Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman. If the reports are accurate, Israeli Police will travel to Japan in the coming days and take the prisoner into custody and return to Israel.

[nottu]

[Iraira]

These gangsters got pull

Israel sent in the mohels threatening to further snip away more of the miniscule J-penis. Should just sent in a few yentas armed with Barbara Steisand albums and homemade kreplak....Japan would have given over all of Kyushu and half of Honshu immediately.

[Greji]

Israel sent in the mohels threatening to further snip away more of the miniscule J-penis. Should just sent in a few yentas armed with Barbara Steisand albums and homemade kreplak....Japan would have given over all of Kyushu and half of Honshu immediately.

The mohels just wanted to make sure the J's didn't have a shagetz by mistake! The real snipping will take place when they get him to the home town slammer, whereby the resident fellas will have a chance to do some real proctology work.....It may turn out that he will wish that he had stayed in jail in Japan...

[Mulboyne]

[Mulboyne]

[McTojo]

So sick and tired of your Westerners trying to sneak drugs into Japan. This post pisses me off! These boys are criminals

[Samurai_Jerk]

Continued from previous post



Here's a website supporting the boys.

Tefillos? Shabbos? Oy gevald! How's a goy supposed to follow this article?

[Iraira]

Yiddish lesson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYVtGqnjrgs

[Mock Cockpit]

Those kids have been stitched up good and proper by whoever recruited them but nonetheless they're doing time no matter what country they get caught in. In a more than a few they'd get their necks stretched. If anyone is to blame (apart from this fucking deluded war on some drugs) it's their parents for bringing up a trio of prize rubes. What part of the bible does it mention lambs to the slaughter?

[Samurai_Jerk]

Yiddish lesson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYVtGqnjrgs

[yt]QqPiJ0L7YmY[/yt]

[torasan]

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/9/prweb8777679.htm

U.S Expert Testimony Wins Historic Drug-Smuggling Acquittal in Japanese Court
On 8/26/11, for the first time in its history a Japanese court admitted the testimony of a US law enforcement expert, resulting in the acquittal of an Israeli youth accused of drug smuggling. Homodia, 9/7/11, The Daily Newspaper of torah Jewry, by Yochi Donn http://www.hamodia.com/mainstory.cfm & (Japan v Goldstein, Yoel, 2008 (WA) No.751, Narita District Court, Chiba, Japan). Source: Michael Levine Trial Consulting, http://www.policetrialexpert.com

backgounder:

Since 2008, three Israeli Hasidic young men were being held in a Japanese prison on drug-smuggling charges. They had naively agreed to carry luggage given to them by someone who said they held antique artifacts, unaware that there were actually large amounts of drugs hidden in the suitcases.

Two of the boys were convicted and given sentences of five and six years, which they are completing in Israeli prisons. In August, the third was acquitted and released to Israel, fulfilling the prayers that thousands of Jews have said on his behalf. His acquittal was heralded as an unprecedented victory as it was the first time a Japanese court, known for its high conviction rates in drug-related charges, admitted the testimony of an American law enforcement expert.

In July, 2011, Michael Levine became the first US law enforcement procedures expert in history to have his expert testimony accepted by a Japanese criminal court. (Japan v Yoel Goldstein)

[Mulboyne]

It's certainly not the first time a court has found in favour of a foreign defendant and not even the first time in a drug smuggling case. Several foreigners have argued they were deceived and have been believed, much to the chagrin of the prosecutors. Not guilty verdicts have been handed down under the old courts as well as the new lay judge system.