Cigarettes worth over $60 million seized in massive smuggling operation at Ashdod port
At least eight containers were found packed with hundreds of thousands of cigarette packs after arriving from Egypt under declarations that they contained wheat flour. Authorities are still inspecting the remaining containers and suspect the operation involved multiple parties.
One of the largest cigarette smuggling operations ever uncovered in Israel was thwarted at the Port of Ashdod, where customs officials discovered hundreds of thousands of packs of cigarettes concealed in containers declared as carrying flour. The seized cigarettes are estimated to be worth approximately NIS 200 million ($62.5M).
Customs inspectors and investigators seized at least eight containers filled with cigarettes in an operation carried out on Wednesday. The Israel Tax Authority said the count of the smuggled packs was still underway, but the potential tax revenue lost to the state had the cigarettes been imported legally was already estimated at tens of millions of shekels.
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Documentation of the cigarettes seized at Ashdod Port
(Courtesy of the Israel Tax Authority Spokesperson's Office)
"This is the largest smuggling operation I have ever seen, and possibly the largest ever uncovered by Customs," said Gil Haziz, director of the Ashdod Customs House. "Had it not been thwarted, this operation would have resulted in a loss of state revenue and harmed the Israeli economy. Furthermore, there is concern that some of the cigarettes were intended to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip to finance money laundering and terrorism."
According to the Tax Authority, the cigarettes arrived at the Port of Ashdod from Egypt in three shipments comprising 48 containers, all declared as carrying wheat flour. A customs inspection found that only some of the containers actually contained flour, while others were filled with cigarettes intended for sale in Israel, in an apparent attempt to evade import taxes.
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Documentation of the cigarettes seized at Ashdod Port
(Courtesy of the Israel Tax Authority Spokesperson's Office)
Following the discovery, the Customs and Narcotics Unit in Ashdod launched an investigation. Investigators suspect that multiple parties were involved, including the importer under whose name the containers entered Israel. The importer was arrested yesterday and brought before the Ashkelon Magistrate's Court, which ordered that his detention be extended.
The Tax Authority said that, given the exceptional scale of the suspected smuggling operation, investigators began taking action before inspections of all the containers had been completed. So far, cigarettes have been found in eight containers, but further inspections could reveal that additional containers also carried cigarettes rather than flour.
