IDF seizes $2.5 million worth of drugs on Egypt border

Israeli troops foiled an attempt to smuggle some $2.5 million worth of drugs into the country from Egypt early Sunday, the military said.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras spotted four suspects approaching the border from Egypt overnight, and dispatched troops to the scene.

Some 70 kilograms (155 pounds) of cocaine and hashish, estimated to be worth NIS 9 million ($2.5 million), was seized.

No arrests were made, according to the army.

Israel says Egyptian smugglers operate by tossing contraband over the border to Israelis, who then sell the drugs in Israel. The smugglers mostly traffic in marijuana and hashish from grow houses in the Sinai Peninsula, but sometimes harder drugs like cocaine and heroin are smuggled in as well.

Though the IDF is tasked with preventing smuggling along the Israeli-Egyptian border, the military typically strives to avoid direct confrontations with Israeli drug smugglers, leaving those to the police.

View of Road 12 on the Israeli-Egyptian border, on October 15, 2017. (Yaniv Nadav/Flash90)

Still, several deadly encounters between Israeli troops and drug smugglers occurred last year.

Last week Israeli troops foiled a similar attempt, seizing 28 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated value of NIS 7 million ($2 million).