Israeli police arrest additional suspects in Ashdod Port cigarette smuggling case

Israeli customs and police arrested more suspects in a major cigarette smuggling operation at Ashdod Port, where eight containers from Egypt declared as wheat flour were found to contain cigarettes worth about 200 million shekels. Two suspects were arrested last week.

Customs and police investigators have arrested additional suspects in the large cigarette smuggling case at the Port of Ashdod. The operation involved an attempt to smuggle eight containers containing thousands of cartons of cigarettes worth approximately 200 million shekels, hidden inside shipments of wheat flour from Egypt. The smuggling was thwarted a week ago, and since then two suspects have been arrested, including the importer in whose name the import was registered. The director of the Customs House at the Port of Ashdod, Gil Haziz, stated that this is one of the largest tobacco smuggling operations ever thwarted in Israel, and expressed concern that some of the cigarettes were intended for smuggling into the Gaza Strip for money laundering and terrorism financing. The joint investigation by the Coastal District Police and the Ashdod Police Station continues, and authorities estimate that additional arrests will be made.