Israeli police conducting a raid at a residential building in Haifa on Sunday found a toddler locked in a cage.
According to the Israeli news agency TPS, officers were looking for drugs in an apartment when they found the child, who is 1 year and four months old, in an iron structure with a pillow and bottle. Five older children were also present, but the mother was not.
"This is one of the most serious and difficult cases I’ve come across," Police Corporal Yossi Atias said, according to TPS. "The police in cooperation with welfare officials of the Haifa municipality carried out an emergency operation with immediate concern for the other children of the family who were there. We take seriously any harm to the helpless and will work hard to handle the case."
The mother, who police identified as a 35-year-old Haifa resident, was eventually located and brought to the residence, and police arrested her on charges of false imprisonment, child neglect, and abuse.
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Police said they also recovered a large quantity of what they believed to be drugs from the building, including crystal and hashish, TPS reported. In addition to the mother, two other suspects were arrested.
Israeli police conducted a number of operations in recent days to crack down on drugs, as well as organized crime. According to the Jerusalem Post, police arrested 40 people between two other busts on Sunday and Monday.
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Sunday's operation was in Ashdod, where police arrested seven suspects at what they believed to be a plant-based drug laboratory. Cops had been investigating the alleged operation for five months.
On Monday, police arrested 33 suspected drug dealers after an informant supplied information over the course of eight months. According to the Post, the informant had purchased large amounts of drugs including MDMA, cocaine, LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms, and more from them.
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Cops reportedly seized suspected drugs, cash, and 14 vehicles.
"In the past year we have been putting a heavy emphasis on operations in the heart of crime syndicates and we will continue doing so without respite for the wellbeing and safety of the people of Israel," police Insp.-Gen. Kobi Shabtai said in a statement.
