A total of 21 civilians and soldiers – including many Israel Defense Forces troops who hail from the Bedouin community in the Negev Desert – have been arrested on suspicion of dealing in stolen IDF weapons, authorities reported Sunday as the details of a joint investigation by the IDF Military Police, the Israel Police, and the Shin Bet security agency were made public.
The suspects allegedly stole ammunition and even parts of rifles, which they replaced with forged replicas, from the bases where they were serving. One of the soldiers who was arrested is suspected of selling a weapon to a relative who is a weapons dealer based in Hebron.
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Both Israeli citizens and Palestinians purchased the stolen goods.
The investigation began following reports from a number of IDF bases in southern Israel about problems with weapons soldiers were handing into arsenals. It turned out that the soldiers arrested allegedly replaced the weapons' original parts with replicas manufactured in the West Bank. The originals were sold at a price of hundreds or thousands of shekels per unit.
Meanwhile, an attempt to smuggle a stock of 4,000 bullets through the Meitar checkpoint was foiled. Investigators believe that this incident and the weapons trafficking ring are linked.
