After weeks of evading authorities, sometimes at close calls, crime lord Ismail Jarushi turned himself in to police in Tel Aviv on Sunday, and his arrest was extended on Monday, until Thursday, after a hearing at the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court.
Jarushi is considered the lead suspect in the intense blackmailing of a money exchange business in southern Tel Aviv, police said at the hearing.
The case began two months ago. Allegedly, he was the man behind a series of threats orchestrated by the SSQ gang that went on for months, and included two instances that involved gunshots at the business - to force the owner, “A.,” to pay NIS 300,000.
A police representative at the hearing said officers tried to apprehend him several times at his house but “he wasn’t home.”
Authorities suspect that he turned himself in on Sunday when he realized that the walls were closing in. Jarushi is suspected of blackmailing, unlawful possession and discharge of a firearm, and connection to a crime.
He was interrogated for about two hours and even gave over his phone to investigators.
Jarushi's name appears repeatedly in another indictment
Police investigators noted at the hearing that Jarushi’s name appears time and again in another indictment, filed just a few weeks ago, against 12 other people concerning attacks and crime rings in southern Tel Aviv – including four minors.
SSQ is one of the more threatening and visible gangs operating in Central Israel, and includes many teenagers in its ranks.