After 4.5 years of covert operations, a large-scale arrest operation was conducted this morning, targeting importers from Israel and the West Bank, customs brokers, and customs inspectors.
The arrests are the result of a complex and lengthy investigation led by the Lahav 433 unit, Customs and VAT Investigations in Tel Aviv, and the Ashdod Customs House, with the support of the Southern District Prosecutor's Office and the Special Cases Unit of the Tax Authority.
The investigation stemmed from a joint initiative by the police and the Tax Authority, who collaborated to insert an undercover agent into the Port of Ashdod posing as a customs employee. The goal was to study smuggling operations, uncover crimes, and target the perpetrators.
The undercover agent, known as 'Jack Sparrow,' successfully infiltrated the inspection team at the port under a cover story meticulously crafted for him. Over the years, he established relationships and built trust with importers across Israel and the West Bank, as well as with customs brokers representing them. Many of these targets were involved in smuggling operations and had connections with criminal organizations. They sought out the agent to facilitate the smuggling of goods into the country, using him to ostensibly inspect containers and ensure their contents matched the declarations submitted to customs. In return for bribes amounting to tens or hundreds of thousands of shekels, the agent overlooked hidden goods in containers, such as tobacco concealed in mannequins, luxury brand clothing suspected of being counterfeit hidden among inexpensive clothes, and parts for luxury vehicles that lacked approval from the Ministry of Transportation.
The agent was also involved in significant seizures by the Customs Authority, including containers with illegal and forbidden items concealed in creative ways. These included weapons, ammunition hidden in rolled-up carpets, small weapon parts concealed in boxes of screws, large quantities of unapproved 'Kamagra' gel hidden in pickle barrels, weapons welded into machinery, large quantities of dangerous drugs, tobacco, high-quality counterfeit and replica brands, and unapproved baby products, among many others.
The Southern District Commander, Amir Cohen, and the Lahav 433 Commander, Roi Waldman, were briefed extensively on the undercover agent’s activities upon assuming their positions. They closely monitored the agent's work at the Ashdod port, given its critical importance in exposing and implicating key targets identified by the police and Tax Authority as systematically operating as economic crime organizations, smuggling prohibited goods, directly impacting the personal and economic security of citizens, and evading taxes in amounts reaching hundreds of millions or even billions of shekels.
After 4.5 years of evidence collection, with a focus on customs brokers suspected of directly influencing smuggling operations at the entry gate to Israel, the covert investigation culminated in a coordinated raid involving hundreds of officers from Lahav 433, the Yoav Unit, the Special Operations Division, the K9 Unit, the IDF, as well as Customs and VAT Investigations in Tel Aviv and the Customs and Drugs Unit at the Ashdod Customs House. The raids took place at the homes of dozens of suspects in Israel and the West Bank, resulting in their arrest and searches that uncovered over a million shekels in cash, foreign currency, checks, eight luxury vehicles, documents, laptops, and property suspected of originating from economic crimes, for which seizure procedures will be initiated.
The suspects are currently being interrogated at Lahav 433 offices, with a joint investigation by the police, Customs and VAT Investigations in Tel Aviv, and the prosecution, on suspicion of money laundering, bribery of public officials, smuggling, and other offenses. They will soon be brought before the Magistrate’s Court for further proceedings.