Drug Smuggling – Rabbi Questioned

Rabbi Moshe Israelov was caught by a guard when he visited a prison inmate in the Austrian capital.

Prison guard Franz Tuczai noticed that Israelov had two packs of Dunhill cigarettes underneath a stack of religious magazines that he had with him.

Tuczai immediately stopped him, searched the cigarette packs and found the cigarettes were half filled with tobacco and half filled with an illegal drug. Prison authorities have refused to disclose what it was.

Prison spokesman Karl Aichinger said that Israelov had once before tried to smuggle an illegal drug into the prison. Despite massive intercession by the Austrian Jewish Community (IKG) on Israelov’s behalf, prison officials banned the rabbi from the prison for six months.

The second incident was Israelov’s first visit to the prison after the expiration of the ban. Police have questioned him about the provenance of the drug and about whom he intended to give it to.

According to IKG Secretary General Raimund Fastenbauer, Israelov was asked by the family of the prisoner whom he intended to visit to give the cigarettes to him but was unaware of the contents of the two packs. However, it is illegal in Austria to give cigarettes to a prisoner.

Fastenbauer said: “For us, Rabbi Israelov remains a reputable person. I cannot imagine him doing anything like that on purpose. Maybe he is too gullible.”

Israelov was later released by police without charge, he declined to comment on the incidents.