A Ben-Gurion International Airport ground services employee is under arrest for allegedly being part of a cigarette smuggling ring.

The Rishon L’Tzion Magistrate Court released the suspect with restrictions. She allegedly assisted in bringing suitcases filled with cigarettes into Israel. She was questioned by customs inspectors at the airport and later taken into custody when the undeclared taxable contents of the suitcases were discovered.

The employee, EA, 54 (name on file) works for the QAS Company, which provides ground services at the airport. According to the Customs Authority report, she passed through the Green Line a number of days ago with two suitcases. When asked who the suitcases belonged to, she refused to respond. The agents took the suitcases and inspected them, revealing the cigarettes, 212 packs to be exact.

The investigation led to the owner of the suitcases, YA (name on file) a passenger who returned on a flight from Russia and let the suitcases for EA to bring in without declaring their contents. When questioned by customs officials YA admitted that EA was used to bring the suitcases into the country for him.

Investigators learned that EA has successfully brought in suitcases in the past.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)