Pubdate: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 Source: Times, The (UK) Copyright: 1999 Times Newspapers Ltd Contact: http://www.the-times.co.uk/ ORTHODOX JEWS USED AS DRUG COURIERS From Sam Kiley In Jerusalem ISRAELI and Dutch police have smashed an international drug ring that used ultra-Orthodox Jews as couriers through Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Israel and the United States, exploiting their renowned piety and traditional garb to carry Ecstasy tablets past customs agents. The key to breaking the ring, allegedly run by two Israelis based in Europe, was the work of an Israeli undercover agent, who spent ten months in The Netherlands. He is said to have bought 600,000 Ecstasy tablets from the main suspect in an investigation that has so far led to the arrests of 41 people in Europe and eight in Israel. "The couriers were young Americans and Israelis, most of them ultra-Orthodox Jews," an Israeli police spokesman said. Among the drug gang, 24 were Israelis, almost all of them ultra-Orthodox Jews. One man's job was to recruit young religious Jews to smuggle drugs. On raids at 36 addresses in The Netherlands, Dutch police found firearms, cash, and the explosive Semtex. In Israel, the ultra-Orthodox tend to be unpopular with secular Jews because they do not have to serve in the armed forces, yet their yeshivot (seminaries) are well subsidised. They have seldom resorted to violence, beyond flinging stones at cars driving in their areas on the Sabbath. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart