A security agent employed in the Government Precinct in Jerusalem was arrested along with a foreign national on suspicion of smuggling about $194,000. The security agent was permitted to bring a case into the airport complex without inspection due to his clearance level. He then brought the case to a foreign national at the boarding gate, presumably to smuggle the quantity of cash out of the country.

Jerusalem customs and VAT agents on Sunday, 13 Sivan, arrested two men, Tesfia Mekunan of Jerusalem and Dawit Kashay, with the latter holding an Ethiopian passport. Kashay was leaving on the voluntary expulsion program in which Israel pays foreign nationals to leave on their own volition.

The security agent is not a government employee but one who works for a manpower agency contracted to furnish security for the Government Precinct in the capital. According to the security agent, he is a relative of Kashay. The bag he was carrying belonged to Kashay but he carried it to avoid inspection, abusing the authority of his security status.

The two met after Kashay passed through passport control at the boarding gate. Then Mekunan handed him the bag to take on board the plane. An alert inspector saw what took place and summoned airport customs officials to the scene.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photos: Media Resource Group)