Two years after becoming friends with a man named B.D. in 1996/1997, Z.R. became involved in criminal activity—particularly, the trafficking of drugs. Z.R. was involved in several large drug deals:
1. 1999: The trafficking of 135 000 MDMA pills from the Netherlands via Germany to the United States. Z.R. funded the purchase of 32 000 of those pills.
2. 1999: The distribution of 305 000 MDMA pills in the United States, of which Z.R. purchased 50 000 for $50 000 USD.
3. 2001: Z.R. invested $125 000 USD in a drug deal that eventually made its way to the United States.
4. Z.R. invested between $150 000 to $200 000 USD to purchase 250 000 pills for sale in the United States.
In all of these deals, Z.R. worked closely with associates, such as B.D., in ensuring successful transactions and the movement of the drugs. Z.R. ordered his associates to locate buyers for the drugs. After a successful deal was completed after locating a buyer, one of the associates relayed to Z.R. via a contact that another buyer in the US had been found. However, unbeknownst to these men, the buyer was in fact an informant for the Miami police and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The informant was “part of an intensive American effort to expose the affair and to arrest those involved.” Z.R. agreed to sell the pills to the American buyer, and the buyer’s agent (an undercover informant who went by the name George) then met with Z.R.’s associates in Manhattan, New York on 16 July 2001. George was given a sample of the pills by one of Z.R.’s associates. Investigators then followed them into the building and searched the apartment where they found 700 000 MDMA pills and $187 000 USD. Z.R.’s associates were arrested immediately for conspiracy and the possession of a controlled substance. When it became clear that Z.R.’s associates had been arrested, B.D. informed Z.R. that they needed “to raise money for their legal representation."
Most members of the “syndicate” were arrested and tried, several resulting in convictions and cooperation agreements in Israel and the United States.
Z.R. was arrested in Israel on 8 November 2004 and on 17 December 2004, a grand jury in the United States Southern District of Florida indicted him on charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and conspiracy to import a controlled substance into the United States. On 28 December 2004, the U.S. Department of Justice made an extradition request to the Office of the State Attorney of Israel. Pursuant to The Extradition Law of 1954, the Attorney General declared that Z.R. was extraditable and the Jerusalem District Court permitted the extradition. On 30 November 2005, the Supreme Court of Israel denied Z.R.’s appeal and affirmed the extradition order.
On 6 March 2006, Z.R. was extradited to the United States and on 16 January 2007 he pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment. According to the terms of the extradition agreement, Z.R. was permitted to serve his sentence in Israel, which he ultimately did.
Israel
United States of AmericaIsraelUnited States of AmericaZ.R. was extradited from Israel to the United States on the basis of the Israeli Extradition Law of 1954. Following his sentencing in the U.S., Z.R. was permitted to return to Israel to serve his sentence.
After being extradited to the U.S. from Israel, Z.R. pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and conspiracy to import a controlled substance into the United States.
- CrimA 4596/05
- https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2004/November/04_crm_736.htm
- https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/legacy/2010/03/08/doj-accomplishments.pdf
- https://www.jpost.com/Israel/Rosenstein-extradited-to-USA
- https://www.jpost.com/Israel/Zeev-Rosenstein-lands-in-Israel
As part of his argumentation put forth during his appeal to the Supreme Court, Z.R. argued that his be considered "a unique case, which is the first of its kind, since, as he sees it, in circumstances where the extradited person is an Israeli citizen and resident, and the alleged offense was committed entirely in Israel, extradition to another country deviates from the balance required by Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom, and by fundamental principles of penal law."
However, the Attorney General, in response, asked that the Supreme Court see Z.R. "as a person who, in this case, de jure and de facto, acted as the head of a crime syndicate. As such, [Z.R.] needed not take part in the activity in the target state, rather could instruct his people from afar. There is, therefore, no real importance in the geographical location from which [Z.R.] acted."
Ultimately, the Supreme Court agreed with the Attorney General, stating that if they were to follow Z.R.'s line of reasoning, "we would find ourselves allowing all those acting from within one country against the security of another, to escape justice, or, at least, to choose the law they find more comfortable."
In their discussion regarding extradition, the Supreme Court additionally acknowledged the growing threat of transnational crime:
This criminal reality requires legal systems all over the globe to enhance their fight against crime. The methods of the past, which were even proved efficient, are no longer sufficient. A need has arisen for new statutes, which confront phenomena which were not previously known. A renewed examination of the rules of application in the internal law is needed, in order to confront acts taking place outside of the state's territory. It is now necessary to make new interpretations of existing law, which will fit their updated objectives. There is now a greater importance to international cooperation in the fight against crime, and no state should treat its fellow's request for assistance stingily. Thus, extradition of criminals has become a most important means in the fight against crime.