The smuggling of cigarette cartons valued at approximately seven million shekels was thwarted by the Southern Maritime Police, together with the Ashdod Customs YASAM unit and detectives from the Ashdod station.

The suspects, who apparently noticed the marine police officers, threw boxes of cigarettes into the sea in an attempt to conceal evidence and fled quickly to shore. The merchandise thrown into the water was located and seized. As mentioned, the forces continued their operational activity yesterday as well, during which the ship suspected of smuggling was located. During the operation and takeover of the ship, additional merchandise of cigarettes was thrown into the sea and seized, with a total estimated value of approximately five million shekels. At the end of the operation, two members of the ship’s crew were arrested for investigation – the captain and the first officer, foreign residents from Azerbaijan, who were transferred to the Ashdod Customs investigation.