Telegrass founder jailed for 8 years for running cannabis marketplace
Amos Dov Silver, founder of the Telegram-based Telegrass cannabis marketplace, was sentenced in Israel on 7 May 2024 to eight years in prison under a plea deal. He was convicted of running a criminal organization and drug trafficking through a network linking some 3,000 dealers with over 200,000 clients.
Amos Dov Silver, the founder of Telegrass, an app-based drug marketplace, was
sentenced on Tuesday 7 May 2024 to eight years in prison as part of a plea
deal.[1][2]
He was convicted of running a criminal organization and drug trafficking
through the service after a five-year legal battle.[2]
Telegrass connected an estimated 3,000 drug dealers with more than 200,000
clients and became a channel for dealing in marijuana and other illegal
substances.[1][2]Silver had been arrested in 2022 and was previously known
as an activist for cannabis legalization in Israel.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Police brought Leonid Gleizer, 28, of Hadera, before the Kiryat Shmona Magistrate's Court after a search of his car and person found about 250 grams of suspected cannabis and cash. Judge Eran Bar-Or extended his detention until 15 November 2026 on suspicion of trafficking and possession not for personal use.
Police from the Zevulun station arrested a 24-year-old Kiryat Yam man on suspicion of running a drugs laboratory at 11 Shapira Street in Haifa. A Haifa magistrate extended his detention by four days, to 9 November, after his lawyer and the police agreed, and a second suspect was mentioned in court.
Israeli police said they found about 25 kg of suspected hashish in a car near Rahat and seized stolen military weapons in a series of operations in Bedouin towns in the Negev. Several suspects were arrested, including the car's 28-year-old driver from Tarabin; police gave no total.
A Freedom of Information request found that Israel Police issued no administrative fines for personal cannabis possession or use between 2022 and 2025, after thousands in 2020–21. Police said the enforcement framework for the 2022 regulations was still being designed, leaving the fine scheme on the books but unused.
