Alleged U.S. white supremacist arrested in Israel

By Jeffrey Heller

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - When Micky Mayon fled the United States, where he faced firearms charges, the alleged member of an anti-Semitic white supremacist group chose what he might have seen as a perfect hideout -- the Jewish state.

Mayon, 32, of Steelton, Pa., was arrested in Tel Aviv on Monday by an Israeli law enforcement unit that searches for illegal migrants. He had been on the run for two years.

"He was here because he thought this was the last place they would look for him," said Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for Israel's Interior Ministry which oversees the unit.

Mayon fled the United States after he was suspected of burning the car of a judge who had ordered he stand trial on the firearms charges, Haddad said, basing her information on details provided by Interpol.

Haddad said Israeli authorities were told by Interpol that Mayon belonged to the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist group described by the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League as a racist, anti-Semitic movement.

"The search for Mayon came to a successful conclusion today with the actions in Israel," said U.S. Marshal Michael R. Regan. "Locating and identifying Mayon in a foreign country sends a strong message that you can run, but you cannot hide."

Mayon was being sought by U.S. marshals on two arrest warrants. Charges included illegal possession of a firearm, reckless endangerment and flight to avoid apprehension.

UNDERCOVER OPERATION

Haddad said Israeli authorities received information that Mayon was in Tel Aviv and he was found in a "complex and undercover operation."

Mayon, she said, arrived in Israel as a tourist in January 2008. He was issued a one-month visa and stayed on illegally.

"U.S. marshals are on the way here to escort him back to the United States," Haddad said. "He said ... that he did not hold a job while in Israel but made some money by washing dishes and that his parents sent him money to make ends meet."

The Web site of the television show "America's Most Wanted" alleged that Mayon had attended rallies of the Aryan Brotherhood and espoused the beliefs of white power activists.

(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis, Editing by Alastair Macdonald)