More Than 50 Arab-Israelis Arrested on Arms and Drug Trafficking Charges

Jerusalem, 21 July, 2025 (TPS-IL) — More than 50 arms dealers in Arab communities were arrested on weapons and drug trafficking charges after an operation carried out by the Israel Police’s Lahav (Blade) 433 investigation unit (Israel’s version of the FBI), which included the activities of an undercover agent known as “Ha’atsil” (the Noble One).

Over the past year, the agent collected incriminating evidence against the suspects in the offenses of arms and cocaine trafficking worth hundreds of thousands of shekels.

The agent was deployed with what the police described as “great creativity,” which led to the execution of over 30 controlled and supervised transactions for the purchase of 18 pistols, three M16 rifles and over 1.5 kg of dangerous drugs, such as cocaine, estimated at a value of hundreds of thousands of shekels.

Monday morning, as the investigation moved into the open phase, dozens of Lahav 433 police officers, Border Police soldiers, and other security forces raided the homes of dozens of suspects across the country and arrested 48 people.