2 soldiers, 5 others held for stealing IDF weapons

Weapons were taken from military base; criminals prefer army guns to make it hard for police to trace them, senior investigator tells 'Post.'

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
IDF soldiers at Gaza border 311 (photo credit: Associated Press)
IDF soldiers at Gaza border 311
(photo credit: Associated Press)
Police uncovered a major criminal operation in which IDF weapons worth hundreds of thousands of shekels were stolen from an army base and sold to criminals, it was announced on Thursday.
Two IDF soldiers, residents of Netanya, were arrested by the central district’s central unit on Thursday, and five additional suspects who are believed to have distributed and purchased the firearms were also arrested following the completion of a joint undercover investigation by police and Military Police. The stolen weapons included M- 16 rifles, other rifles, grenade launchers and a large quantity of ammunition.
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“The two soldiers worked together to steal the weapons and neutralized security measures in place on base,” Ch.-Supt. Tomer Cohen, head of the central unit’s investigation division told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
“They transferred the weapons to a group of people who acted as intermediaries.
These in turn hid the firearms and then sold them to senior criminals.
“We are now checking to see if any of the weapons ended up in the hands of terrorists,” Cohen added.