My brother escaped to save his life: Israeli drug dealer’s sister

PANAJI - Alleged Israeli drug dealer Yaniv Benaim alias Atala fled Goa and returned to Israel because “he feared for his life”, his sister told an Indian TV channel Monday.

Speaking to Times Now, Miri Ben Yaish said that her brother who had jumped bail, after being arrested for being part of the police-politician-drug mafia nexus, returned home for reasons of security.

“The only reason he left India was probably that he really feared for his life. He decided to go to a place with some security. He is staying in Israel, he is thinking of going away sometime, but not now. He didn’t expect this fuss, this noise around him. No one is looking for him, and I say again - people know he is here, he has no problem in Israel and we have checked it. And if he plans to leave Israel, then he will have a problem, she said.

The channel also showed photographs of Atala near his house in Rishon Letzion, a township located near Israel’s capital Tel Aviv.

Atala who had jumped bail in June, is one of the main cogs in the police-politician drug nexus, with which Goa Home Minister Ravi Naik’s son Roy is allegedly linked.

Atala was arrested in March after his Swedish model girl friend Lucky Farmhouse uploaded videos of him boasting of his links to senior policemen and politicians on www.youtube.com

Seven policemen have already been arrested for being a part of the narcotics mafia in the state.

The police investigation into the drug nexus case in which several senior police official and politicians are linked has also been criticised by the opposition, media as well as the Bombay High Court, the latter even observing that the investigators were trying to prevent political skeletons from tumbling out in the course of investigations.