Confiscated pistol
Photo courtesy of Border Guard
27 arrested in north for alleged arms trafficking
Police raid homes in Arab communities; confiscate weapons, ammunition, cash, stolen cars
Hundreds of police officers raided a number of Arab communities in northern Israel early Monday morning and arrested 27 people on suspicion of operating a weapons trafficking ring.
During the raid police officers confiscated weapons, ammunition, cash and stolen vehicles.
The raid followed a covert investigation that was launched some four months ago, during which the suspects were under police surveillance.
Some of the weapons found during raid (Photo courtesy of Border Guard)
"While searching the suspects' homes we found large amounts of arms, ammunition and stolen vehicles used by the suspects in their activities," senior Border Guard officer Yigal Ben-Lulu told Ynet, adding that hundreds of thousands of shekels in cash were also confiscated.
The suspects, aged 20 to 40, hail from Nazareth, Umm al-Fahm, I'billin, Kafr Kanna, Deir Hanna, Arab al-Shibli, Daburiyya and Reine.
According to the police investigation, the suspects obtained the weapons by breaking into homes and IDF bases. Some of the arms were transferred to Israel from the territories.
The brother of one of the suspects said police found weapons "in our neighborhood" and mistakenly linked his brother to the arms trafficking ring. He told Ynet the family plans to take legal action to clear his brother's name.
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