(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

For the first time, police officers of the Israel Police in Ashkelon encountered a large amount of money hidden in a suspicious vehicle, hidden in a very thorough manner. The estimated amount of money found in the vehicle is 5 million shekels.

In the early hours of Monday morning, detectives from the Ashkelon police station detected a couple driving in a luxury vehicle that aroused their suspicion.

After a thorough examination of the car they were traveling in, police found a large sum of money, which was concealed in the driver’s seat. The suspects, both Ashkelon residents in their 30s, were handed over to the Lahav 433 Serious Crimes Unit of the Israel Police. The two insist they had no knowledge of the money, adding the vehicle was not acquired first hand and the money must have been there when they bought it from the previous owner.

Forensic experts found traces of gunpowder on the vehicle, and five grams of a substance believed to be an illegal drug. They were arraigned in the Ashkelon Magistrate Court and their remand was extended.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)