A 62-year-old taxi driver from Bat Yam was arrested Tuesday night by Tel Aviv District Police officers after five Glock handguns, magazines and a bulletproof vest were found in a bag in his trunk.
The arrest took place during a police operation on the side of Highway 6 near the Ben Shemen interchange, following suspicions that the driver was headed to central Israel to traffic weapons. A court extended his detention by five days.
Footage from the police bust
(Video: Israel Police)
"We don’t yet know if the weapons were intended for terrorist activity or for the criminal underworld," police stated during a hearing at the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court.
The suspect reportedly claimed at the scene that he was simply delivering a package, but during questioning, he exercised his right to remain silent. In court, he told the judge: “I was called for a ride to pick up a package, something like Viagra or things like that — it’s happened before. I never dreamed this would happen. I’m an angel from heaven. I’ve never done anything like this.”
Police say that using taxis to transport weapons is a common tactic in the criminal world, especially to avoid drawing attention. Weapons are sometimes moved even when passengers are in the car, making the operation appear routine. Investigators believe the guns were likely meant for imminent hits, though they have not ruled out the possibility that the weapons were being smuggled to terrorist groups.
The driver’s attorney argued in court: “This is a troubling incident in which a hard-working taxi driver received a phone call asking him to come to a certain location and pick up a package. He placed it in his car without knowing — and with no way of knowing — what was inside. He had no idea it was weapons.”
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Police later arrested a second suspect, a 32-year-old resident of the Bedouin sector in the Negev, who is believed to have cooperated with the taxi driver and was allegedly involved in possessing and trafficking the weapons. His detention was also extended until Sunday.
Last week, police revealed that a 10-year-old boy and a 15-year-old teen had sold weapons to an undercover agent during a large operation targeting illegal arms dealers in East Jerusalem, southern Israel and the West Bank. The agent, codenamed “Matrix,” gathered evidence against dozens of suspects for trafficking firearms, explosives, and ammunition. That same night, 32 suspects were arrested based on the agent’s intel.
For nearly a year, the Jerusalem District’s central investigative unit ran the covert operation, during which “Matrix” infiltrated the illegal weapons trade. A total of 28 firearms — including pistols, rifles, and dozens of powerful explosives and ammunition — were sold to the agent, with a total estimated value of 1.3 million shekels. Each weapon sold for between 30,000 and 50,000 shekels. Police are now investigating whether some of the seized weapons were intended for terrorist attacks.