[JPost] The arrest follows a year-long covert operation in Israel's Arab sector.Police officers made the single largest arrest of illegal arms dealers in Israel’s history after a year-long covert operation, the Israel Police announced on Tuesday morning.
The operation resulted in the seizure of 40 rifles, 13 pistols, two machine guns and two explosives linked to a cell phone. A total of 65 suspects from 25 different localities across Israel were arrested, among them a father and his three sons who operated a family arms dealing business.
The raid saw the use of approximately 1,000 police officers, including from the special forces and Border Police.
The operation, coined Operation Ocean, was made possible through the use of an undercover operative who had formerly been a criminal. The operative was recruited by the police in August 2020 and began his assignment in November, police said. The operative himself made 48 different arm purchases, which included 25 AR15-type rifles, one MAG machine gun, seven Kalashnikov-type rifles and 13 high-quality pistols.
"We are fighting a war to protect the daily life of all citizens of this country," OC Israel Police Northern District Assistant-Chief Shimon Lavi said in a statement on Monday morning, soon after the operation was revealed. "It is a war against the intrusion of criminal elements who try and succeed in getting their hands on public funds. It is a war against the extortion of business owners."