Van on Route 6
Photo courtesy of Border Guard
Med student caught transporting illegal Palestinian workers
Officers apprehend 18 Palestinians and east Jerusalem resident who drove them along Route 6. 'Smuggling network operates like a crime syndicate,' says investigator
Border Guard officers on Tuesday discovered 18 illegal Palestinian aliens packed inside a van travelling along Route 6 at 160 km/h (about 100 mph).
The officers were amazed to find that the vehicle, which was pulled over at the Qassem junction, once served the Border Police's Ofek Unit before it was sold at auction.
An investigation revealed that the 26-year-old Israeli who drove the van is a resident of east Jerusalem who is studying medicine in Romania and is currently in Israel on vacation.
Illegal Palestinian workers (Photo courtesy of Border Guard)
Investigators said the driver had no contact with those who operate the extensive smuggling of workers from the West Bank into Israel.
"This network operates like a crime syndicate – there is a leader, soldiers and drivers," senior Border Guard investigator Itzik Tuv told Ynet, "They make a fortune."
"On a bad day they transport 1,000 Palestinian workers into Israel, and on a good day they can smuggle 4,000 of them," he said.
"Each Palestinian is charged NIS 250 (about $67), so at the end of each day the profit margin is very high."
According to the officer, congestion inside the vehicles can be life-threatening. "The only ventilation comes from holes drilled in the vehicle's floor. One worker suffocated to death once," he said.
On Sunday Border Guard officers discovered 46 illegal Palestinian aliens packed inside shipping containers on a gravel-transporting truck in the Hefer Valley.
