Tel Aviv announces thwarting of smuggling of a large drug shipment across the Egyptian-Israeli border - Sarmad

Israeli occupation police foiled an attempt to smuggle a large quantity of drugs across the Egyptian border.

Israeli channel i24news and the Hebrew news website Walla reported that Israeli police arrested two suspects late Friday evening near the Egyptian border on suspicion of involvement in smuggling drugs into the country.

Hebrew media outlets added that fighters from the “Magen” unit of the Southern Brigade detected a Maverick-type security vehicle heading toward the Bir Hadaj area during a joint security operation. After stopping the vehicle, they discovered approximately 21 kilograms of crystal meth inside, with an estimated value of tens of millions of shekels.

The reports noted that Magen unit fighters, supported by the Israel Police Air Unit and Yavaf units, thwarted the activities of a smuggling cell and arrested two of its members. The suspects and the seized drugs were transferred for interrogation, in a security move that Israeli sources described as having disrupted a smuggling operation worth millions of shekels across the western border.

The southern border of Israel with Egypt has seen repeated attempts to smuggle drugs and weapons, prompting Israeli authorities to bolster their security presence in the Bir Hadaj area and southern Negev.

This operation comes amid ongoing efforts by specialized police units, such as the Magen unit, to cut off supply lines to cross-border smuggling networks, which exploit the rugged desert terrain to carry out their activities.