BOSTON – Jalal Altarabeen, a/k/a Glal El Tarbin, a/k/a Jalal Salamah, a/k/a Abu Rasheed, 33, an Israeli national, was indicted in U.S. District Court in Boston in connection with a conspiracy to transfer $2.5 million of cocaine from Colombia to Israel via Boston as well as money laundering.
According to court documents, from October 2015 to April 20, 2016, Altarabeen and his co-conspirator conspired in Boston, Colombia, Poland, and elsewhere to distribute 50 kilograms of cocaine and launder money internationally.
Altarabeen and his co-conspirator allegedly negotiated to buy 50 kilograms of cocaine from an undercover officer posing as a drug trafficker. Altarabeen and his co-conspirator agreed to pay $50,000 per kilogram for a total purchase price of $2.5 million to have the cocaine delivered in Israel. The undercover officer told the defendants that the cocaine would be transported from Colombia to Boston and from Boston to Beersheba, Israel, where the defendants expected to take delivery of the cocaine.
Altarabeen agreed to make an advance payment of nearly $1 million to cover transportation costs and sent wire transfers from Turkey totaling $999,972 to an undercover bank account in Boston. The undercover officer and Altarabeen agreed that Altarabeen would pay the balance of $1.5 million after the receipt and sale of the 50 kilograms of cocaine.
The undercover officer’s relationship with the co-conspirator began in 2008 and included a meeting in Nicosia, Cyprus. In October 2015, the co-conspirator told the undercover officer about an associate who was interested in purchasing large quantities of cocaine. Eventually, the co-conspirator facilitated an introduction of the undercover officer to Altarabeen.
Altarabeen was extradited from Poland and arrived at Boston’s Logan Airport this afternoon. He was detained following an initial appearance before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley. Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb stated, ‘This case exemplifies the importance of disrupting large-scale, international drug trafficking before the drugs can be distributed.’
According to the indictment, Altarabeen and his co-conspirator were charged with one count of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and six counts of international money laundering.
Related Federal Cases
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- Sergio Hernandez, Conspiracy to Distribute Crack Cocaine, Massachusetts 2015 · Puerto Rico
- Official 1 Name Not Given, Money Laundering, Washington (D.C.) 2023 · Massachusetts
- Kevin Sligar, Conspiring to Illegally Possess Firearm and Distribute Cocaine, Massachusetts 2012 · Massachusetts
- Aleksei Shushliannikov, Ransomware Laundering, Massachusetts 2014 · New Hampshire
Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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