IDF forces operating on Israel’s border with Lebanon on Tuesday were successful in detecting and thwarting an attempt to smuggle guns and drugs into the country.
The IDF stated that during a routine patrol in the area of the town of Metula, IDF and Israeli police forces identified two packages of drugs and a gun, worth together tens of thousands of shekels.
The findings were transferred for further treatment and investigation by the Israel Police.
The Hezbollah terror organization has been previously exposed to be behind the smuggling of weapons and drugs into Israel.
The drugs are grown or produced in southern Lebanon and Syria, and are distributed to points in the Middle East and around the globe, one of the operations Hezbollah runs to fund its terror activities.
This was the IDF’s second successful interception of a smuggling operation into Israel in a span of a few hours.
Earlier in the day, the IDF stated that its forces identified three suspicious vehicles that were stopped on Route 90, running through the Jordan Valley, after an apparent smuggling operation from Jordan.
The smugglers were caught with a haul of 53 weapons, including 39 handguns, 10 Kalashnikov assault rifles, and four M-16 assault rifles.
The four suspects and findings were transferred to the Israel Police for further investigation.
No information was provided on the identity of the suspects.
The weapons are estimated at a value of some NIS 3 million.
Similar incidents have occurred in the area in recent months, during which IDF troops and police arrested suspects in smuggling attempts and seized weapons of various types and calibers.
The IDF has said that it has recently detected an increase in the number of smuggling attempts in this area.
Israel’s border with Jordan, its longest, is usually peaceful. Fenced in most areas, it serves as a smuggling route for drugs and weapons from Jordan into Israel.