Police arrested two Mexican nationals in possession of a stolen briefcase packed with thousands of dollars worth of jewelery on Tuesday, hours before the suspects were scheduled to board a flight out of the country.
The dramatic arrest was made by undercover officers on Highway 1. Police pounced on the suspects who were en route to Ben Gurion Airport.
According to police, the suspects followed an Israeli jewelery dealer in Jerusalem for several hours earlier on Tuesday, tracking his movements around the capital.
"The dealer sat down at a restaurant in the center of town, and the thieves made away with his suitcase without him noticing," Israel Police Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told The Jerusalem Post.
The thieves were unaware that they were themselves being monitored by a team of undercover police officers, in an operation jointly overseen by the Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Border Police units.
The suspects' vehicle was pulled over as soon as it left Jerusalem. "They have admitted a connection to the suspicions against them," Rosenfeld said. "They arrived in Israel three days ago, and were supposed to fly out on Tuesday evening."
Rosenfeld said he could not comment on the intelligence gathering aspect of the operating, adding that police were attempting to understand why the thieves had targeted a jewelery dealer in Israel specifically for a heist.
