Israeli drug dealer Atala surrenders in Goa, remanded for 30 days

Yaniv Benaim, an Israeli national known in Goa as Atala, surrendered before a court at Merces in North Goa on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, and was remanded in judicial custody for 30 days in connection with a narcotics case.

He appeared before the court around noon, meeting the deadline set by the Bombay High Court at Goa. Following the remand order, he was moved to the Central Jail at Colvale in North Goa. His bail application is scheduled to be heard by the high court on September 21.

Advocate Manguirish Usgaonkar, appearing for Atala, said the 30-day judicial custody was ordered pending the high court's hearing on the bail plea.

The case dates back to April 5, 2025, when the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) arrested Atala after a raid at his apartment in Siolim, North Goa. The agency alleged that cocaine and charas were seized from the premises, along with cash, and he was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).

A district court granted him bail in August 2025, a decision challenged by the investigating agencies before the high court. On July 14, 2026, the high court set aside the bail and directed the trial court to reconsider his application. The fresh plea was rejected by the North Goa court on August 14, which also issued a non-bailable warrant after he failed to appear. The ANC later told the court that he was absconding and that a Look-Out Circular had been issued against him.

Atala subsequently filed a petition before the high court, which directed him to surrender before the lower court on September 16, pending arguments on his bail plea.

Atala first drew public attention in Goa in 2010, when a purported spy-camera video allegedly exposed links between drug dealers and sections of the police and political establishment. Several policemen were arrested during the investigation that followed. He jumped bail in August 2010 and was later arrested in Peru in January 2011.