Security forces arrest nine in 'sophisticated, daring' arms smuggling op. in Negev

In addition to arms smuggling, the defendants were charged with damaging IDF property, aiding in illegal border crossings, drug offenses, and more.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF FEBRUARY 23, 2025 16:49

Weapons uncovered in the West Bank as part of a smuggling operation from Iran into the West Bank, November 27, 2024. (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

The Israel Police and Shin Bet seized nearly 40 firearms and arrested nine people during an operation in the Negev, the Attorney General's Office announced.

In a joint operation, they uncovered a network of arms smugglers operating across the Negev, smuggling weapons from Jordan into the West Bank.

Police recovered 34 pistols and four long-barrel weapons during the arrests.

Police announced they had uncovered "a significant infrastructure of a network of arms smugglers from the Jordanian border to the territories of the State of Israel and from there to the territories of Judea and Samaria."

All of the arrestees were from the Negev, with six being from the central Negev town of Bir Hadaj and the rest being from a variety of places.

Weapons discovered in the West Bank, January 2025 (credit: IDF)

A significant network

The investigation revealed that members of the network were involved in two significant arms smuggling operations from the Jordanian border in the second half of 2024, using vehicles that crossed the border from Jordan to Israel containing a large number of weapons.

Police revealed that the director of the smuggling operations, Fuaz Altoukhi, 28, a resident of Bir Hadaj in the Negev, paid other members of the network tens of thousands of shekels for their involvement.

Altoukhi also operated a business with two other Israeli citizens, a father and son, also residents of the Negev.

The investigation revealed that dozens of weapon parts smuggled by the group from the Jordanian border were sold by two defendants who are a father and son, residents of the Bedouin diaspora in the West Bank, through the mediation of a West Bank resident who is also accused in the case.

Attorney Assaf Bar Yosef of the Southern District Attorney's Office filed four indictments against ten defendants with the Beersheba District Court on Thursday and Today.

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The indictment described the operation as "sophisticated and daring,"  describing how they breached the fence, leaving a passage allowing for free movement.

In addition to arms smuggling, the defendants were charged with damaging IDF property, aiding in illegal border crossings, drug offenses, and more.