Israeli police’s longest-ever undercover op helps bust smuggling ring at Ashdod port
Secret agent codenamed ‘Jack Sparrow’ worked at port for 4.5 years leading to arrest of dozens of importers and customs officials; seizure of contraband
Dozens of importers and customs officials have been arrested on suspicion of facilitating years of illegal smuggling of goods into the country via Ashdod Port in exchange for bribes, Israel Police and the Tax Authority said in a joint statement Tuesday.
The raids capped 4.5 years of undercover operations, with police having inserted an agent codenamed “Jack Sparrow” into the customs mechanism of the port, in what was the police’s longest-ever agent operation.
In 2020, the force had the agent become a customs inspector, and over the years he received repeated bribes of tens or hundreds of thousands of shekels from the suspects and was asked to lie about the content of goods entering the country, including illegal weapons, drugs, tobacco, and other dangerous and unauthorized products.
In some cases, this enabled money laundering and tax evasion worth tens of millions of shekels.
The agent helped seize dozens of the illegal and prohibited goods smuggled in creative ways, including small weapons parts hidden in boxes appearing to contain screws and large quantities of a Kamagra gel — an erectile dysfunction treatment not approved by the Health Ministry — hidden in jars of pickles.
Hundreds of police officers raided the homes of dozens of suspects Tuesday, confiscating millions of shekels in cash, foreign currency, eight luxury vehicles, documents, laptops, and other properties and assets.
The suspects are now being questioned, and will later be brought before a judge, the joint statement read.
Shaul Schneider, chair of the Ashdod port board, slammed the police and Tax Authority joint statement, stressing that customs officials, not port employees, are to blame for the offenses.
“Customs employees are not Ashdod port employees. None of the port’s employees have been arrested and this case is related to the Tax and Customs Authority. They looked for headlines on the back of the port and the damage was done,” he told the Ynet news site.
