Israel police operation reveals “legal” cannabis companies used by criminal organisation to divert product to illicit market | Cannabis Law Report

First publication: A wave of arrests was held this morning (Wednesday) throughout the country, and more arrests are still expected. The police suspect that David Vaknin and his accomplices established criminal activity in the form of a criminal organization, under the guise of legal cannabis companies, through which they smuggled goods worth tens of millions of shekels to criminal elements, with money laundering offenses amounting to more than NIS 80 million. According to the police, there are dozens more involved in the case.

A little while ago, the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court extended the detention of five key suspects in the case by five days: David (his uncle) and Kanin (47); his sister, Royat Bozaglo (51); Benjamin Yosef (69), the owner of Company “A”.D. Cannabis”; Dvir Angel (40), owner of the “Harmony” company; and Amar Gabara, owner of the “Emerald Libs” company. During the operation, the police confiscated 9 apartments and 5 vehicles.

The arrest of the five comes at the end of an undercover investigation, which split from the original investigation into the case of leaking tons of medical cannabis “Talkan” gestures Which was revealed in December 2024. As I recall, a group posed as messengers from an allegedly licensed transportation company, forged identity cards, and managed to get more than 2 tons of medical cannabis from the farm. The involvement of company officials in the delivery of the goods to the impersonating messengers is still under investigation.

Last month, cannabis magazine revealed for the first time the Vaknin’s connection to the case And his substantial, but hidden, involvement in the straw companies that were suspected from the beginning of being registered in the name of normative people who would be able to meet the conditions required to obtain a license to practice medical cannabis – something that Shuknin himself could not do due to a significant criminal record.

During today’s court hearings, a representative of the Police Fraud Unit detailed a long list of serious suspicions attributed to suspects, including anti-money laundering, drug trafficking, receiving something fraudulently, conspiracy to commit a crime, forgery and the use of a forged document.

According to the police, and as revealed in the cannabis magazine, the core of the suspicions is that Shuknin transferred the goods – tons of medical cannabis worth tens of millions of shekels – to criminal elements through the legitimate occupation licenses of the established companies.

The police representative stated that the undercover investigation began already in December 2024, following the same “spillover” of cannabis from the breeding farm of the “Talkan” company, and according to him “Vaknin’s name came up at the beginning, but we didn’t understand how it was related”. Now that cannabis magazine has been uncovered and with the arrest of the entire network, the police seem to have been able to understand the nature of the activity.

“Act like a criminal organization”

At the hearings, it became clear how the police view the role of each of the other suspects online. On Binyamin Yosef, the police claimed that Company “A”.D. Cannabis” that he owned was used as a “straw company” to launder money, and that he was in the “highest echelon” of suspects. Dvir Angel, owner of “Harmony”, is alleged to have been involved in the sale of the cannabis to criminals out of the 2 tons stolen from Telekan, and that he had a “very close relationship” with Lucanin and Gabara. On Amar Gabara, it is claimed that he incriminated himself for money laundering offenses during his investigation in February. In general, the police representative claimed that the whole gang “seemingly acted like a criminal organization with an oiled mechanism, everyone knew what they were doing and what they weren’t doing”.