Airport security officials held for smuggling people out of the country

Several people were arrested Tuesday for involvement in a crime ring accused of smuggling people past security and passport checks at Ben Gurion Airport.

Among the accused are a former Shin Beit official, a border control official, a former police officer, a private investigator and a prominent lawyer, according to Hebrew media reports.

Maariv reported that the smuggling ring would accept up to $15,000 to illegally assist passengers who were forbidden to leave the country. Security personnel at Ben Gurion would help clients get past security checks, and then a border control official would stamp their passports in secret in the airport bathroom.

According to Army Radio, the private investigator would locate people subject to exit bans and solicit the rings services.

The scheme was discovered after a passenger returning from abroad was identified at Ben Gurion as someone whose exit from the country had been banned. His interrogation lead the police to the arrests this week.

Police Superintendent Itzik Almog called it “a serious incident” and said police suspect that hundreds were thought to have left the country by this method.