A network for smuggling illegal residents was exposed – following a covert investigation by the Border Police, three suspects and 22 illegal residents were arrested. In recent weeks, a covert investigation has been conducted by the National Fraud Unit.

The investigation revealed that the network operated systematically through drivers and brokers, with the aim of transporting illegal residents deep into the country. This morning, undercover officers and detectives from the Tactical Division, in cooperation with the Tactical Division’s drone unit and Border Police fighters from the Jerusalem Envelope, operated to arrest the suspects while they were committing the offense. During the operation, forces raided a minibus traveling on Highway 1 from Jerusalem towards the center of the country, carrying 22 illegal residents, alongside another suspect, an Israeli (from Kafr Aqab) in his 40s, suspected of transporting them. Simultaneously, forces operated at two additional locations in Jerusalem, where two Israeli suspects, in their 50s and 20s, residents of Ras al-Amud, were arrested on suspicion of managing the network. All suspects were transferred for further investigation at the Jerusalem Envelope Border Police National Investigations Unit.