How did 4 girls afford jet-setting party life, luxury car? Cocaine - police

Four Israeli girls returning from a fun trip in Germany would seem innocuous to most – but Israel Police knew otherwise at Ben-Gurion Airport last Sunday. In their bright pink suitcase, hidden within shampoo and health food and supplement packages were concealed millions of shekels of cocaine and ketamine.

Suspects Idan Zauber, Lee Poni, Orel Ben Haim and Arbel Mizrahi, as identified by Walla, are all in their 20s. Their social media posts reveal a lifestyle full of intense clubbing and exotic travel – pictures of themselves lounging on the beach in bikinis, sipping on alcoholic beverages.

However, they also posted the normal memes and social cause posts typical of people their age. Although one meme posted by Zauber may have been a bit on the nose: “God, give me a reason to work,” said a man in a meme originally posted by “Ketamemes.” In the meme, Jesus replies that “Cocaine isn’t cheap, my child.”

Unlike their peers, one of the suspects owned an Audi Q3 – according to police, allegedly registered under the name of their mother, and suspected to have been purchased with the proceeds of drug trafficking. This suggests that at least one of the suspects had been long involved in drug trafficking, to finance their lifestyle.

How did their luxurious jet-setting party lifestyle come to an end?

Security footage released by police showed how this lifestyle came to an end. Three of the suspects collected the bright pink luggage from the baggage carousel in Ben-Gurion Airport, and rolled it through customs – But police unit 747’s suspicions had been aroused as the quartet traveled from the plane to that point. Police searched the luggage, finding in addition to the drugs hidden within food and shampoo containers large sacks of white powder. In all, police had discovered 15 kg of cocaine and ketamine on the girls.

The fourth member of the cocaine quartet was arrested outside of the airport. She attempted to hide the drugs. And two men, a partner and a relative, are suspected by police of aiding the women.

The four women were arrested by the police and their detainment was extended by a week given the evidence. The luxury car was confiscated on Thursday.

Zauber’s lawyer, Lia Plus-Domb, told 103FM that the woman didn’t know how the drugs got into their suitcases and dismissed allegations that the girls had engaged in multiple smuggling trips from Berlin as gossip. She called on the police to pursue the mastermind behind the incident.

"She went with her friends on a trip to Germany, and after a few days when they returned, she was arrested, and from that moment of course the sky fell on her," Plus-Domb told 103FM.

Mizrahi’s lawyers Sassi Gaz and Idan Shani also protested their client’s innocence, according to Walla, saying that "she was a young girl, devoid of any criminal offense, whose accusations against her are far from the reality of her life. Her family and close friends are shocked by the case and we all hope that things will become clearer in the future and that [Mizrahi] will be released to her home."