Police: Man caught ‘red-handed’ smuggling phones to security prisoner

Police and Prisons Service officers caught a man “red-handed” as he tried to smuggle cellphones and money to a security prisoner on Wednesday, officials said.

After discovering that illicit goods were reaching a prisoner serving a life sentence for national security crimes, the Israel Police and Prisons Service launched an undercover operation to disrupt the smuggling ring.

The operation culminated on Wednesday with the arrest of a suspect found with three cellphones and cash on his way to meet the prisoner.

The Prisons Service did not reveal the identity of the suspect, the prisoner, or the prison where the smuggling attempt occurred, saying only that it was “in the south of Israel.”

After an interrogation on Wednesday, the prisoner and the suspect were taken to court Thursday morning for remand hearings.

The suspect and the prisoner are being investigated on suspicion of conspiracy to commit a crime, purchasing goods for the purpose of abetting terrorism, and violations of Prisons Service regulations, specifically those dealing with cellphones.

Last month, MK Basel Ghattas of the Joint List party was accused of smuggling cellphones to security prisoners. Footage from a Prisons Service surveillance camera showed the Arab lawmaker passing envelopes to prisoners at the Ketziot Prison in the south.

Following the allegations and threats of indictment, government and opposition politicians began the process of trying to expel Ghattas from the Knesset.

Separately, IDF troops arrested 11 Palestinians throughout the West Bank late Wednesday and early Thursday, nine of them for rock-throwing or taking part in violent protests, the army said.

The other two were alleged members of the Hamas terrorist group, the military said.

In addition, army sappers found and detonated pipe bombs in the northern West Bank.