Suspected Israeli mobsters to be extradited on charges of trafficking Ecstasy

Suspected Israeli mobsters employed members of the Vineland Boyz, a San Fernando Valley gang, to distribute tens of thousands of Ecstasy pills throughout Los Angeles, provide security and gun down an Encino man who allegedly tried to steal a drug shipment from them, according to a federal indictment unsealed Sunday.

Itzhak Abergil, allegedly one of the most powerful crime bosses in Israel, was arrested Sunday in the Israeli city of Bat Yam on racketeering charges brought by the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, where he is due to be extradited.

The State Department has listed Abergil as one of the 40 biggest importers of illegal drugs to the United States.

Los Angeles police and the Drug Enforcement Administration, with the U.S. attorney’s office, have been investigating Ecstasy trafficking by Israeli crime syndicates for years and have racked up a series of big arrests. But Abergil, 39, has long been the ultimate target, law enforcement sources said.

The 77-page indictment provides a detailed depiction of foreign drug traffickers linking up with a local street gang to make inroads into the Los Angeles underworld.

Four other Israeli nationals, including Abergil’s older brother Meir, 53, were arrested in the alleged conspiracy. Another is on the loose, as is Luis “Barney Twin” Sandoval, 25, alleged to be a key Vineland Boyz figure.

Sandoval allegedly oversaw the slaying of Sami Atias, who was shot to death as he drove in Encino in August 2003.

The Abergil syndicate decided to have Atias killed after he tried to steal a 165-pound Ecstasy shipment from Belgium, where the drug is often synthesized, the indictment alleges. The load would have been worth an estimated $7 million on the street.

They face up to life in prison if convicted.

 joe.mozingo@latimes.com

 ashraf.khalil@latimes.com