Police nab suspected ringleader in army firearm theft

Police arrest the suspected ringleader of a gun trafficking network that is believed to have stolen 33 M-16 assault rifles from an IDF base earlier this year, along with six other people.

In May, the 33 guns were stolen from the army’s Sde Teiman base in southern Israel, prompting police to launch a nationwide search for the weapons and the thieves.

Over the course of the nearly two-month investigation, police arrested six suspects from across the country.

Those arrests led to the suspected ring leader, whose name has yet to be released. Police would say only that he is from the Arab town of Kafr Qara in northern Israel.

Today police say they found the suspect hiding in an apartment in northern Israel. He has already been interrogated and is expected to be brought before a judge later today.

— Judah Ari Gross