Team Herald
PANJIM: Notorious Israeli alleged drug lord Yaniv Benaim, alias
Atala, whose arrest 15 years ago exposed the police-politicians-drug mafia nexus and resulted in the suspension of seven policemen, was arrested early on Saturday by the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) with drugs worth Rs 8.7 lakh.
The ANC seized 50 grams of cocaine and 110 grams of charas, along with Rs 40,000 in cash, from Atala, who was picked up from his rented accommodation at Siolim.
Significantly, this is the first time the drug dealer has been caught with narcotics in his possession, although he had been arrested twice earlier. These arrests are for assault cases registered at the Anjuna police station in 2010 and 2019.
According to the police, Atala was on the radar of ANC sleuths for operating a drug racket. Cops set up a decoy, who struck a deal with Atala and went to his rented lodgings to pick up the drugs. That is when police swooped in and caught him red-handed.
He was produced in Court later in the day and remanded in five days’ police custody. The police are now probing if Atala was staying in the country with valid visa documents.
The Israeli drug dealer was in the news in March 2010, when a controversial tape was uploaded, where he was seeking talking about his alleged links with the police. His girlfriend, Lucky Farmhouse, had recorded his video confession, claiming that he had been supplying drugs which were confiscated by police during the raids.
The ensuing controversy led to the suspension and subsequent arrest of five policemen, including the then PI, a head constable and three constables for their alleged links with the drug dealer. The case was investigated by the Crime Branch and later handed over to the CBI.
Though Atala had fled the country, the CBI extradited him from Peru in 2012. He and the suspended police officers were later acquitted by the Court.
Atala was again arrested in April 2019 by the Anjuna police in an attempt-to-murder case. After the Additional Sessions Court dismissed his bail application in May 2020, Atala approached the High Court of Bombay at Goa and got bail in August the same year.