- A top South African policeman has confirmed that an Israeli
mafia is active in the country, according to a report published Tuesday
by the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
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- The comments, made by Johannesburg Police Senior Superintendent
Chris Wilken, come one day after the murder of Johannesburg socialite Hazel
Crane, who was on her way to testify at the trial of Lior Saat, the Israeli
man accused of murdering her estranged husband, Shai Avissar, in 1999.
According to the SABC, both killings were the work of the mafia.
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- "[The mafia] most definitely exists, there is no
doubt about that," Wilken told the SABC. "I mean it's coming
way back, if you take the murder of Shai Avissar."
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- Wilken added that mafia was involved in a variety of
illegal activities, including diamond smuggling, drug peddling and money
laundering.
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- "They are quite busy in the northern surbubs of
Johannesburg. I think there were three or four murders in particular in
that area," Wilken said.
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- Shai Avissar, a diamond dealer, was battered to death
near Sunninghill, allegedly by business associate Saat, 33, who is currently
facing 13 charges, including intimidating Crane by holding a gun to her
head.
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- Saadt, an Israeli citizen who was allegedly captured
on the border with Mozambique and brought to South Africa to face trial,
is challenging the jurisdiction of the Johannesburg High Court to try him.
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- http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/359557.html
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