Israeli Crime Suspect Extradited from Morocco in High-Profile Bombing Case

Golan Avitan is now in the hands of the Israeli authorities. He was extradited to Israel under the agreement signed between Israel and Morocco during the visit of the head of the Israeli police Yaakov Shabtai, which aims to facilitate cooperation between the police of the two countries to track down Israeli criminals. The Israeli fugitive was arrested on Wednesday upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, reports The Times of Israel. He will be brought before a judge of the Rishon Lezion District Court after initial questioning, the police said.

Arrested by the Israeli police in 2016, Golan had been placed under house arrest after being released on bail. He takes advantage of this house arrest to flee the country in 2018. While he was allowed to see a dentist, Golan disappears from the radar. According to the police, he managed to remove his electronic bracelet with a hair dryer. He will be arrested ten months later, in 2019, in a synagogue in Casablanca during a visit with his children, who had come from Israel to meet him. Incarcerated in a detention center in Rabat, he will remain there until his extradition to Israel.

Golan Avitan belongs to the Abergil family, considered one of the most organized and ruthless criminal organizations to have operated in Israel. He would be involved in the 2003 bomb attack in Tel Aviv that killed three people.