Israel says plot to smuggle guns across Jordan border thwarted

Israeli security forces foiled an apparent plot to smuggle 37 handguns into Israel from Jordan earlier this month, in an operation that has been kept under a gag order until today, police say.

On February 7, Border Police officers spotted the main suspect, a Palestinian man from the Nablus area, as he attempted to cross into northern Israel from Jordan wearing a large backpack.

The border guards, assisted by the Israel Defense Forces, arrested the man shortly after he crossed into the northern Jordan Valley and found inside his bag the 37 pistols of various types, police say.

Police arrested three other Palestinian suspects — also from the Nablus area — whom they believe were planning to pick up the suspect after he crossed the border.

— Judah Ari Gross

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