Israeli Police Unit Probing Alleged Diamond Smuggling Ring

(IDEX Online) – Israeli police and Tax Authority investigators have cracked an alleged diamond smuggling ring which brought millions of dollars of stones into the country from South Africa.

One of the alleged smugglers pretended to be a commercial pilot in order to avoid South African customs and police officials and take the stones out of the country, Israeli police said.

The Israeli police’s anti-organized crime unit and Tax Authority inspectors said they had cracked a ring that worked to smuggle diamonds worth tens of millions of shekels ($1=3.45 shekels) from South Africa to Israel over the past several years.

The ring carried out many smuggling operations between South Africa and Israel. Members of the ring were caught in July when one of the men was apprehended at Ben-Gurion International Airport and remanded for questioning. The police have not named the suspects.

The suspects could face a range of charges, including money laundering, tax evasion and smuggling offenses.

Israeli police are cooperating with authorities in South Africa and that they believe there are more people in the ring, although they are not yet certain how many.