Hezi Serbero, Mordechai Hirsch,Moshe Keder largest narcotics bust in Israeli policing history

Three suspects are in custody, police said, naming Hezi Serbero, 57, the notorious smuggling ringleader who served a previous seven year prison sentence for attempting to smuggle ecstasy pills out of Holland, Mordechai Hirsch, 67, and sea vessel company owner Moshe Keder, 81, described by police as their oldest drug smuggler in custody to date. Keder was the owner of the tugboat which set sail around the globe, with police agents following close behind. After following a renovated tugboat packed with anywhere between seven to ten tons of Moroccan hashish around three continents for over than a year, Tel Aviv police undercover agents working with their British counterparts made the largest narcotics bust in Israeli policing history Friday, raiding the boat and arresting the Israeli drug smuggling cartel, as well as British nationals in the English port city of Southampton.
The tugboat packed with Moroccan hashish.
"The operation began a year and a half ago, when we received intelligence on an Israeli group attempting to organize a shipment of a large quantity of hashish from Pakistan to Europe," Chief Superintendent Aharon Valariola, head of intelligence at Tel Aviv police, said. "We launched an undercover investigation and followed the ship, a renovated tugboat, as it sailed away from Eilat with an Israeli crew and reached the coast of the [east] African Republic of Djibouti. There the ship changed crews. Members of the ring had made contact in Pakistan with a view to buy the drugs there, but then changed their minds and decided to purchase them in Morocco," Valarioloa said. Meanwhile, a channel of communications had been established with a number of British Pakistanis, as the UK had been chosen as the target country to ship and sell the hashish. Once they learned of the smugglers' intentions, Israeli police made contact with their UK counterparts, and other foreign police forces were also brought into the picture, as the investigation reached Belgium, "where the ringleader spent most of his time organizing funds."
"Throughout the year, the smugglers forked out numerous expenses on fuel, port taxes, ship renovations, and crews. The ship headed for Essaouria, on the Moroccan coast, where the hashish, worth 15 to 20 million dollars, was purchased. It then set sail for Southampton, all the while under our watch," Valarioloa recounted.
By the time the ship had docked in the south coast of England, ready to unload its food containers stuffed with hashish, Tel Aviv police officers, staying at a nearby Southampton hotel, were ready to pounce with UK narcotic officers.
"There could be more arrests in the future. We are now at the opening stage of the investigation, and the suspects will be questioned," the police intelligence head said. He added that he was not surprised that links were forged between Israeli smugglers and Pakistani and Moroccan drug handlers. "Unfortunately, many Israelis are involved in drug smuggling rings around the world."