DEA Report on the Israeli ‘Art Students’
140 Israelis had been rounded up before 911 and another 60 were arrested after 911. Clearly this was espionage, they were illegally entering government buildings and homes under a bogus business front and they had special cell phones given to them by the Israeli government. Interestingly they were also living next to 911 hijackers who by the way also used the services of an Israeli moving company which was also a front. However the Israelis were simply deported on Visa violations and were not charged with espionage.The DEA was not happy but pressure form the White House won and got its way.

Covert operations are often financed with off the books narco money to provide plausible deniability. Knowing what the DEA knows is key to protecting black markets especially inside the US. The Israeli mob was pushing MDMA hard in the 90s. Rather than financing hijackers the idiotic way through traceable bank transfers to intermediaries the way the Saudis did it, the Israelis copied the American method of laundering drug money. One dealer’s phone number was uncovered when the “dancing” Israelis were arrested and it lead back to the drug ring in South America (where many of the Art Students had visited according to their passport stamps) with known ties to Islamic terrorists.