Malaysia charges alleged Israeli mobster Shalom Avitan with arms trafficking

Avitan is accused of weapons trafficking after he was arrested with six semi-automatic handguns in his Kuala Lumpur hotel room

The 38-year-old, who has pleaded not guilty, secured the firearms locally and paid for them using cryptocurrency

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Israeli national Shalom Avitan (centre) is escorted by Malaysian police upon his arrival at a court in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:18pm, 12 Apr 2024Updated: 1:19pm, 12 Apr 2024

An Israeli national caught with a cache of semi-automatic weapons faces decades in jail and six lashes if found guilty of arms trafficking and illegal possession of firearms, after he was charged on Friday by Malaysian prosecutors two weeks following his arrest at an upscale hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Shalom Avitan, 38, was arrested on March 27, in a case that triggered wild speculation in Malaysia that he could be a spy with Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.

A handcuffed Avitan – clad in a black T-shirt, cargo pants and a black disposable mask – was brought into the Kuala Lumpur court complex surrounded by a team of heavily-armed police officers.

Prosecutors accuse Avitan of arms trafficking after he was found with six semi-automatic handguns in his room at the Four Seasons Hotel.

“Any person trafficking in firearms shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of not less than thirty years … and with whipping with not less than six strokes,” according to Avitan’s charge sheet.