BREAKING NEWS

Backpacker arrested in Tashkent after cartridge found in her luggage

Backpacker arrested in T

A 20-year-old Israeli backpacker was arrested at the Tashkent airport on Friday night after a rifle cartridge was found in her luggage. The woman had apparently borrowed a backpack from a friend who serves in the IDF and whose military duty obligates her to routinely carry such cartridges. She was stopped at the Uzbek airport after landing there for a layover on her way to Thailand. Arrest protocols in the country dictate that the woman will remain in police custody until the conclusion of the investigation. Interviewed from Tashkent, she said she was not aware the cartridge was in her backpack until she reached Tashkent. She may have managed to pass the first and second security perimeters at Ben Gurion Airport since her ignorance of the suspicious contents of her bag made her answer security agents' questions to their satisfaction. But the tourist was flying with Uzbekistan Air and stopped in Tashkent to catch a connecting flight to Bangkok, Thailand; she therefore checked-in at an Uzbekistan Air stand and did not go through El Al's check-in security, where her bag would have been scanned an additional time. The Foreign Ministry was looking into the incident.