An intensive investigation by Israel Police, in collaboration with Military Police and the Shin Bet resulted in the exposure of a network of arms dealers, the Police Spokesperson’s office reported Monday.
Police arrested six residents of Be’er Sheva and northern Israel on suspicion of stealing and trading 33 M-16 rifles from the armory at the Sdeh Teiman IDF base in southern Israel last month. According to Police, the gang traded in stolen weapons both in southern and northern Israel.
On Monday, Police will request a remand of the suspects to jail, after investigators have transferred the investigation materials to the State Attorney’s Office for the upcoming indictments.
“This is a complex investigation, involving a race against time, intended to remove existing threats against innocent individuals,” Police said, noting there will likely be additional arrests in the near future.
During the operation, a large amount of ecstasy, hashish and hydrocodone worth an estimated $60,000 was seized, as well as vehicles belonging to the suspects which were used to commit the crimes in question.
The episode began on Sunday, May 28, 2017, when the police 100 hotline (Israel’s 911) received a complaint about a break-in at the armory of the Sdeh Teiman IDF base in the south, which resulted in the theft of dozens of weapons.
From the start, police detectives were suspicious of a gang of painters who were working around the base at the time. The detectives began to collect evidence, eventually pinpointing the individuals who had broken into the armory on Friday, May 26, collected the weapons and drove away.
The same detective discovered that the gang was very good at unloading their stash: by the time they were captured, the criminals had managed to sell ten units to a crime organization in the south, and 18 and five units to crime groups up north.
Their sale method was simple: the thieves would park a car with the weapons in its trunk at a large service station on Rt. 6, and switch cars with the buyers. A few days later the two sides would meet a café to agree on the payment.
Police expects to collect about $400,000 from the gang members’ profits and from the sale of their four vehicles.