Indian police detain Israeli for staying without valid travel documents following drug charges

Driham was dubbed an “Israeli drug baron” but was cleared after claiming that police had planted drugs. The arrest is an immigration-related detention rather than an arrest for a new drug offense.

Israeli national David Driham, 51, known in Goa as “David” or by the nickname “Dudu,” was arrested again in Anjuna on Friday on suspicion of staying in India without valid travel documents, local media reported on Saturday, citing Anjuna police.

The arrest is an immigration-related detention rather than an arrest over a new drug offense. It comes, however, against the backdrop of a cocaine case dating to June 2025 that, as far as is known, remains open, as well as a 2010 drug case in which Driham was dubbed an “Israeli drug baron” but was later cleared after his claim that police had planted the drugs was accepted.

The current suspicion is that Driham was staying in India without a valid passport. Local media reports published on Saturday, citing Anjuna police, said Driham, who reportedly lives in the heart of Goa’s tourist district, could not produce travel documents when police checked on him in the morning. Police then sent him to a detention center in Mapusa.

The latest arrest is not connected to a new drug case, but Driham is already facing proceedings in a cocaine case. According to local media, India’s Narcotics Control Bureau opened a case against him in early June 2025 after he was allegedly found in possession of approximately 11.2 grams of cocaine in Anjuna.

He was arrested the following day, but a magistrate in Mapusa released him on bail that same day, ruling that he had not been provided with a written copy of the grounds for his arrest.

Previously released with prohibition on leaving India

In December 2025, the NCB filed a charge sheet against him. On July 15, 2026, he was released under restrictive conditions, including surrendering his passport, a prohibition on leaving India without permission, and a requirement to appear for court hearings.

No sentence has been publicly reported in the case. If the proceedings are still ongoing and those conditions remain in effect, it is unclear how Driham would have been expected to produce a passport.

Indian media noted that Driham’s name was already well known in Goa because of an earlier case. In February 2010, Goa Police’s Anti-Narcotics Cell arrested Driham, then 34, near his home in Anjuna on suspicion of possessing ecstasy, heroin, cocaine, liquid LSD, and hashish. The arrest also received extensive coverage in Israel at the time.

The investigation was later transferred to India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, which arrested police officers on suspicion that the drugs had been planted.

In 2023, the charges against Driham were dropped, and he was discharged from the case, while the court ordered that the police officers accused of fabricating the case stand trial.