3 Israelis indicted for smuggling drugs into Gaza via drones

State prosecutors file an indictment against three Arab Israelis after they were arrested by security forces on suspicion of smuggling drugs into the Gaza Strip via drone.

Police officers, Shin Bet agents and IDF soldiers arrested the three Negev residents — Muhammad Sarahin, Sharif Abu-Gardud and Younes Abu-Gardud — in April.

They are accused of carrying out multiple drug and cigarette smuggling operations from Israel to Gaza, leaving the drones in the enclave.

Police say the smuggling posed a “direct threat to national security” given the worry that the drones, which can carry loads of dozens of kilograms, could fall into the hands of Hamas.

Officers are requesting to extend their detention until the end of legal proceedings.

The three defendants “were involved in exporting dangerous drugs by drone to the Gaza Strip during wartime, while fully aware that the entity controlling Gaza is the Hamas terror group, which would be able to use the drones that the defendants brought to Gaza for terrorist activities,” says state prosecutor Assaf Bar Yosef.