Israeli criminal groups begin activities in UAE: Report

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - Impersonating themselves as businessmen, heads of Israeli criminal groups have recently started shifting their activities to the UAE, an Israeli broadcaster reported.

Quoting a senior Israeli police officer, Channel 12 reported that the heads of criminal groups operating via agents or traveled themselves to complete deals worth tens of millions of dollars.

These criminals “impersonate themselves as Israeli businessmen and hide the fact they are dangerous criminals,” the officer said.

He noted that those criminals invested in real estate in Dubai, and in food and hotel projects to use it as a cover while being involved in cocainedrugs trade as well as money laundering.

He said the Israeli police are gathering information about their activities in the UAE and estimated that they would launder hundreds of millions of dollars in Dubai.

The police officer warned that if the criminals are caught in Dubai while engaged in drug trafficking, they may spend long periods in jails if not being sentenced to death.

Following the signing of a normalization deal between the UAE and Israel in mid-September, dozens of agreements were signed in different fields, along with daily flights for UAE and Israeli carriers between both countries.

* Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara