Abergil brothers, Yitzhak and Meir, were remanded in custody for 20 days yesterday pending a request by law enforcement in the United States

Abergil brothers, Yitzhak and Meir, were remanded in custody for 20 days yesterday pending a request by law enforcement in the United States for their extradition on murder charges. The Abergils, reputed heads of one of the most notorious crime syndicates in Israel, were brought before a Jerusalem Magistrate's Court judge along with Moshe Malul and Israeli Ozifa, who are also wanted in the U.S. for their alleged role in the killing of an Israeli drug dealer, Sami Atias. A fifth man, Sason Barashi, was also remanded in custody until the necessary investigation is completed and he may be released under house arrest. By law, the suspects may be remanded as many as 60 days in custody, by which point the U.S. law enforcement authorities need to present Israeli courts with a detailed request for the extradition of the five suspects. Police and prosecution sources have said that the extradition process may take as long as a year because of the various court deliberations and other bureaucratic requirements. For the first time yesterday,defense attorneys for the five suspects learned of the charges facing their clients in the U.S. The indictment includes four different crimes that are attributed to Yitzhak Abergil: involvement in the murder of Atias in California in 2003; trade in Ecstasy; extortion and violence against businessmen; and money laundering and fraud.
The 78-page document from the U.S. law enforcement authorities, detailing the charges against the five suspects, charges that Yitzhak Abergil and Malul were involved in the murder of Israeli drug dealer Atias in California in 2003. According to the document, hit men looked for Atias on orders from Abergil, who wanted to avenge Atias' attempt to steal a shipment of Ecstasy pills he was supposed to sell in the U.S. on behalf of Abergil and Malul.
Abergil and Malul are also charged with creating an organization that smuggled Ecstasy, cocaine and hashish from Europe to the United States. Malul and his brother are believed to have secured sources producing Ecstasy in Europe, raised the capital and arranged for the shipment of the drugs to California.

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