The Haifa Magistrate’s Court on Thursday extended the detention by five days of Dr. Ronen Mogilner, 44, of Pardes Hanna, who is suspected of importing 2.5 kilograms of cocaine into Israel.
This is the third time his remand has been extended in a case that has shocked the local community.
Mogilner, a father of two and director of a Meuhedet dental clinic, was arrested after the suspected drug shipment was intercepted.
At the hearing, Sgt. Maj. Avi Israel of the Coastal District’s Central Unit told the court there had been a “dramatic development in the investigation,” and requested an eight-day extension of the suspect’s detention.
Mogilner’s defense attorney, Limor Halevi, his third legal representative following attorney Yemima Abramovich and, earlier, public defender Leonid Prachovnik, argued that police had misrepresented the nature of the substance.
According to Halevi, the material in question “is not white, but a plant-based powder,” which might contain no more than two grams of cocaine. She said Mogilner told investigators the package held coca leaves mixed with ashes, “as the Indians used to consume in the past.”
Coca leaves and cocaine are defined separately
She emphasized that under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, coca leaves and cocaine are defined separately. “To extract cocaine from coca leaves, a laboratory equipped with acids and special materials is needed, and no such setup was found,” she said.
Halevi also cited the low cost of the material, just NIS 3,000, as further evidence that it was not a shipment of pure cocaine. “This is far from the huge sums traded in the drug world,” she said.
Israel responded that, in addition to the powder, “many other things were seized,” and asserted that the defense’s claims lacked merit.
The judge determined that there was reasonable suspicion of criminal activity and grounds for continued detention. With the defense’s consent, Mogilner’s remand was extended for five more days.