ГУЛаг Палестины

Square, Crozer broke down and cooperated. But then his lawyer, Stanley Lupkin, argued that his client, a pious Jew, had no idea that he was laundering

drug money. Crozer, according to his lawyer, believed that he was laundering money for a Jewish diamond trader .'who trades in cash" and not for Gentile

drug traders and was using the situation to make some extra money, for his synagogue.

It seems that this argument had some effect since Crozer was sentenced to one year and one days imprisonment. In exchange for a lenient science, he

supplied his interrogators with valuable information which helped them to capture a person whom they had been seeking for a long time: Avraham Sharir,

another pious Jew, the owner of a gold trading office on 47th Street, who was really one of the biggest sharks for laundering drug money in New York City.

Sharir, an Israeli Jew aged about 45, to whom we will later return, subsequently confessed to having laundered $200 million for the Colombian drug cartel of

Kali.

The drug trade is considered to be the most profitable branch of crime in the world. The profit margin ranges in the area of 200% for cocaine and 1,200% for

heroin. The amounts of money laundered in the trading office are larger than the budgets of many small states. The temptation is great. The main problem of

the Colombian drug barons who control a significant part of world drug trade is how to get rid of the money. It is a problem of the rich but a nagging one.

Two major Colombian drug cartels operate in the US - the Kali cartel and the Medellin cartel.

The killing of the head of the Medellin cartel, Pablo Escovar, by the Colombian authorities in December 1993 greatly weakened this cartel which had

controlled the drug trade in the New York area. The Kali people, in contrast, hold a monopoly over the Los Angeles and Miami area markets. At present,

the Kali people distribute about 80 per cent of the world's cocaine and a third of the heroin- The Kali drug cartel makes $25 billion each year within the US

alone. The money must somehow be shipped out of the US without arousing the attention of the American authorities. Besides, the cash must be given a seal

of approval and, one way or another, become legitimized.

Around this complex issue a mega-business has sprung up - laundering and smuggling drug money. American customs investigators have found millions of

dollars in containers supposed to have contained dried peas, in double-sided gas tanks, in steel boxes attached to freight ships. In 1990 they found $14

million in cash in a shipment of cables, supposed to have been sent from a Long Island warehouse to Colombia.

According to records found on the site, that was shipment No. 234 (multiplied by 14 million, calculate it yourselves). The same year, at Ke

warehouse, 26 large containers were found which were supposed to have contained bull sperm. The latter was not there but there were $6.5 million. In May

of this year American investigators raided a bowling ball plant in Long Island. They picked up the balls, cut them in half and found within them $210,000 in

used $100 bills.

Despite their active imaginations, the drug barons find it hard to keep up. $25 billion is a lot of money and it must fill a lot of space since most of the money

gained in drug deals comes in bills of $10 to $20. And that is how the match was made between the drug cartels and 47th Street in Manhattan.

This street is the world center for trading diamonds, gold, jewels and precious stones. Hundreds of businesses are crowded in there, between Fifth and Sixth

Avenues. Shops, businesses, display halls. In the back rooms and on the top floors, far from public access, the action takes place. That is where the major

traders sit, and that is where the deals are made. Diamonds, gold and jewels pass from hand to hand with a handshake. The frantic activity there offers an

ideal cover for illegal transfers of money. "In fact, even legitimate business appears, on 47th Street, to be dark and mysterious," said a customs official.

"Merchandise arrives constantly, boxes, suitcases and packages are constantly opened, everything arrives in armored cars, under heavy security and a shield

of secrecy. Now, go find the black money."

"The match between the drug barons and 47th Street," an American customs investigator told Afaai-ii@, "is ideal. The gold and diamonds industry circulates

large amounts of cash. The diamond traders are accustomed to transporting large amounts of money in cash, from one state to another, efficiently and without

leaving a trace, Large amounts of money pass from hand to hand on 47th Street, without arousing suspicion.

"A diamond trader might launder $5 million every day without arousing special attention. it is difficult to monitor the deals, to locate the sources of the money

and it is very difficult to infiltrate that closed field, which is based on personal acquaintance and trust."

Added to it is the fact that in the course of the past five years, the diamond industry on 47th Street has been in a deep slump, which put many traders into

bankruptcy. "A trader like that," said an investigator, "faces the choice of bankruptcy or making easy, quick and relatively safe money. Not everyone is strong

enough to withstand the temptation."

All of that would not have been of interest to us if not for the massive Israeli and Jewish presence on 47th Street. "At least 50% of the diamond traders there

are Israelis," so an Israeli diamond merchant, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Maariv. "Not a few Israelis also operate in the field of jewels, precious

stones and gold. All of them came to New York to make fast money, conquer the market, get their big break. Not all of them have succeeded, especially not

recently." But the Jewish presence on 47th Street is much greater than that.

Experts in the field estimate that 75% to 80% of the active traders on the street are Jews. A large number of them are very pious Orthodox Jews, mainly

Hassids. There is also a respectable representation of Jews from Iran and Syria, usually also very pious. One can get along fine in Hebrew on 47th Street.

There are many more kosher restaurants in the area than in all of Tel Aviv. The place is also the biggest laundry for drug money in the US.

The expansion of the phenomenon of laundering drug money in the US in general, and on 47th Street in particular, led to the establishment of a special

American task force to combat the phenomenon. The unit is called Eldorado, after the mythical South American city of gold. It is staffed with 200 agents,

officials of the US customs and internal revenue agencies. Eldorado, established in April 1990, investigates the money- laundering in general. Fifty of its

agents dedicate their time just to 47th Street.

"It is work that demands tremendous manpower," said Robert Van Attan, an Eldorado officer, "since the money has to be monitored along the length and

breadth of the continent, sometimes also abroad." The target of the Eldorado agents is money, and money alone. They are not interested in drug imports, drug

deals or drug dealers. "We want to put our hands on the money. To hit their pockets," say members of the unit.

The task is difficult. In America there is no law that prohibits possessing money. On the other hand, when a large amount of cash is found in the possession of

a launderer, the agents confiscate the money. If the person can prove that the source of the money was legitimate, he gets it back. That does not happen.

The launderers are experienced. When one of them is caught and several million dollars are found in his possession, he willingly hands over the money, but