Two chareidim affiliated with Breslov have been arrested about 10 days ago in Spain on drug related charges. One of the prisoners is a bochur and the second an avreich. They were apprehended with a significant quantity of drugs in their vehicle.
One of the suspects is married. The two, Nosson and Yosef, 22 and 23 respectively, are residents of Tzfas and Yerushalayim are affiliated with the Shuvu Banim Yeshiva. They claim they were involved in some type of deal involving vehicle in Europe, in Spain. It appears they were offered a free rental vehicle on condition they return it in Madrid. They were asked to transport a vehicle, unaware of what they were carrying, an illegal substance. Some are calling this the new Japan bochrim case.
Askanim in the chassidus have been working to have them released but they have been unsuccessful to date. Kikar Shabbos reports that for one of the families this is not entirely bizarre, adding the father was arrested in the past in a similar matter.
The two have not yet been brought before a judge. A local attorney has been working on the case.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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13 Responses
They would have a good defense if the deal appeared to be legitimate (e.g. car rental companies that allow one way rentals often end up with the car in the wrong place and need to pay to get them back to where one-way rentals originate). The Japanese case involved people who knew they were doing something illegal (they were told not to let the police open something – always a could sign of criminal activity), but didn’t realize how illegal it was.
the way to solve these problem is simple. The community must turn over the person who was behind this. Let him rot in jail (if these guy where totally innocent which is hard to believe)
I actually know the people. The one from Tzfat has nothing to do with Shuvu Banim.
They were offered by Ukrainians a free drive from Madrid to Uman with all expenses paid if they take a car through which they were told then s being sold on the other side. It is not the first time this was done, however it was the first time that drugs were hidden in the vehicle which was done with the boys knowledge. At this point they are trying to track down the Ukrainians behind the deal.
The father was the one who was once arrested when drugs were found in his rental car but was quickly released when it was discovered that it was left behind by the previous renter.
If you ask me it is pretty bizzare that a similar thing happens to his son many years later.
Here we go again.
Didn’t the saga of the innocent bochurim in Japan teach them anything? I guess some people are just slow to learn.
Change this title……If they are involved with a drug bust what makes them chareidi?
Chareidim? Because of their dress? Because of their nusach ha’tefilah? Because of their style of hat or how they wear their payos? Because of their style of learning? Does the use of this term perhaps help others justify their own shortcomings?
When the word FREE is mentioned in any deal…run the other way!!!
Strike up the band. All together now:
Pidgeon shviyim!
unfortunately, there are a low live minority in Breslev who do drugs. They are ruining the good name of Breslev and cause many to distance themselves from the teachings of Rabbi Nachman.
bklynmom : Not necessarily. Cars are very expensive to transport. It isn’t unheard of to let someone drive to the car somewhere and in lieu of paying the driver with a salary, he gets to drive the car and stop. The owner gets the car to the place for much less than it would pay to hire someone to drive it or ship it, and the person who does the driving gets a free car rental. Needless to say, the “free rental” is really a “salary” paid to the driver, and isn’t taxable.
The kids arrested in Japan claimed they thought they were smuggling antiquities (bad argument from a legal perspective, it’s at best a mitigating circumstance). The people in this article might actually be innocent (unless they were told something like: don’t open the trunk).
Shuali #7, let me explain. Chareidi refers to any person who wears at least 1, but preferably more than 1, of the following: A shtreimel, a black fedora, a large white knitted yarmulka, a long black silk coat/jacket, a long striped white and gold coat/jacket, a double breasted dark wool jacket, a burka, black socks and knickers, white socks with black leather slip-on shoes, payos that are more than 5 inches long, a white shirt buttoned the wrong way, eyeglasses with thick lenses.
Hope that was helpful.
@kunst
You are way too funny