Weapons seized on Karin-A ship (Archive)
Photo: Joe Kot
IDF: Navy stopped boat in December on suspicion of arms smuggling
Navy forces boarded vessel they suspected was smuggling arms six months ago. Ship's Yemenite crew was arrested, taken in for questioning, then released. No arms found
The IDF
has cleared for publication Tuesday that an Israeli navy force, active in securing Israel's waters, captured a foreign vessel at sea in December and took its crew in for questioning.
On the basis of intelligence information, Israeli navy cruisers stopped a ship in Israeli water last December, possibly in connection to arms smuggling.
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After stopping the vessel, the IDF arrested its crew members and took them in for questioning.
The crew was of Yemenite nationality and was questioned in Israel in connection to arms smuggling, but was then released.
Apparently, no arms were found on the ship itself.
In the past, such operations have led to the capture of large amounts of arms.
In 2009, the navy's commando force stopped and boarded the Francop, a ship planning to dock in Syria containing massive amounts of Iranian arms indented for Hezbollah .
The most famous such operation was the interception of the Karin-A ship in the Red Sea in 2002. On board tons of munitions were captured en route from Iran to Gaza.
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