IDF soldiers aided drug smugglers to fill up the promise land with drugs
Amid the escalating tension along Israel's southern border, several soldiers and career officers serving in the IDF have aided smugglers in Sinai to sneak in hundreds of thousands dollars worth of drugs into the Jewish state, according to an army investigation.
On Monday, a military court lifted a gag order to reveal that 15 people have been arrested for alleged involvement in the scheme, including seven soldiers, five non-commissioned officers and three civilians. Some of the suspects also allegedly sold hundred's of thousands worth of the illicit materials.
The secret probe that concluded this past weekend found that the detained soldiers and NCOs, who serve as trackers along Israel's border with Egypt, warned the smugglers in Sinai about upcoming army patrols and ambushes.
Using cell phone calls and text messages, the trackers allegedly informed an Israeli smuggler about unguarded spots on the border. The smuggler then transferred the information to his Egyptian counterparts.
The smugglers had to increasingly rely on the information transfers once Israel stepped up efforts to build the border fence.
"The construction of the fence is heading towards completion and as result smuggling locations are growing scarce," Lt. Col. Gil Mamon, who heads the Military Police's special investigations unit.
In one shipment that managed to be brought in to Israel there was approximately three kilograms of heroin, over 1,000 ecstasy pills, dozens of kilograms of hashish and half a kilogram of cocaine were across.
This is just the tip of the ice burg the investigation continues making this operation one of the biggest schemes uncovered by the Military Police in recent years, a military source said.
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