An undercover agent from the Negev District Special Investigations Unit exposed a protection racket targeting business owners in Be’er Sheva: dozens of suspects were arrested.

Police Commissioner Superintendent-General Danny Levy: “Israel Police continues to operate with determination to dismantle protection rackets and cut off extortion mechanisms.” Over the past year, as part of the fight against the phenomenon of protection money collection managed by the Southern District under the command of the Southern District Commander and in accordance with the Police Commissioner’s policy, the Central Unit of the Negev Region led a large-scale covert investigation. During this investigation, an officer was activated, recruited by Israel Police as an undercover police agent, and operated under the guise of a business owner in the industrial zone of Beersheba. During the agent’s activity, criminal elements from the Bedouin diaspora allegedly approached him and demanded that he pay “protection money” for the location, through threats and extortion, in sums totaling tens of thousands of shekels. During the operation, the agent and the unit collected evidence and findings against dozens of suspects, including key targets of the district, alongside additional involved parties who allegedly caused property damage to several business owners as part of the threat mechanism, and with the aim of enforcing their authority over business areas and compelling business owners to pay them “protection money,” exploiting their distress and fear of damage to their property. Early this morning, with the transition to the overt phase, forces from the National Guard of the Border Police and detectives from the Negev Major Crimes Unit, in cooperation with officers from the Southern District’s Rotem and Negev regions, the air support unit, and additional support elements, including national and district special units, led a large-scale raid on the homes of the suspects in the Bedouin diaspora, in additional communities in the south, and in other areas across the country, and carried out the arrest of dozens of suspects. The covert investigation was accompanied by a broad operational and intelligence envelope, with the assistance of the Israel Police agents’ team and under the guidance of the Southern District Attorney’s Office.