Argentinian police have taken an Israeli crime boss into custody, after the suspect fled Israel following allegations of attempted murder and conspiracy.
Yaakov ‘Aka’ Shimon, a Jerusalem mafia kingpin and one of the most notorious figures in the Israeli underworld, was arrested last week after an international arrest warrant was issued in his case. Israeli authorities are now beginning proceedings for an extradition.
Israeli police responded to Shimon’s arrest in a statement, saying: “The recent arrest is yet another expressions of the determined, professional, and uncompromising effort by Israel’s police, in conjunction with local authorities around Israel and across the globe, against all forms of crime, an effort that is not limited in reach by time or borders.
Every criminal should know that the Israeli police will invest all resources available to it to find them and bring them to justice.”
A notorious Israeli mobster, was arrested in Argentina, police announced on Tuesday. Israel is seeking to extradite the suspect, Yaakov “Akka” Shimon. Shimon, who is thought to be the heir of the Abergil crime syndicate, is suspected of involvement in multiple murders in Israel. The arrest is part of the larger police investigation, termed “Case 1131,” into a number of mob-related murders. Police have filed 15 indictments in the case.
The State Attorney’s Office filed an international warrant for Shimon, which led to his arrest by the Argentinian police.
“The suspect was staying abroad and last weekend he was arrested by local police forces in South America under an international arrest warrant against him issued by the International Department of the State Attorney’s Office,” police said in a statement.
Police said the arrest was made possible by new intelligence and “close international cooperation with foreign law enforcement authorities.”
In August over 14 suspects were arrested in Case 1131 on suspicions of multiple murders and a litany of violent offenses.
The detainees are suspected of involvement in the assassination of Avi David, shot a point-blank range outside a Bat Yam steakhouse in October 2011, and the deaths of Jordan Azoulay, Sharon Mizrahi, Yitzhak Geffen, Mor Algarbli, Moshe Anhiisi, Rami Amira, and Bar Cohen.
The investigation was conducted by a branch of the Lahav 433 National Crime Unit.