Israel Police detain Palestinian for attempting to smuggle vehicle parts into Jordan
A further investigation raised suspicions that the suspect had received stolen electric vehicles and attempted to obscure the vehicle identification numbers.
Israel Police and Israel's Tax Authority conducted a joint operation to thwart an attempt to smuggle stolen car parts from Israel into Jordan, police confirmed on Tuesday.
A shipment of car parts arrived at the Jordan River border crossing on May 2, causing a customs officer to become suspicious that the car parts were stolen.
The officers conducted a thorough physical inspection to confirm their suspicions of the 406 car parts for electric vehicles, and they were able to confirm that they were stolen and intended to be smuggled into Jordan, police noted.
The customs officers arrested the driver and initiated an investigation. The customs officers then forwarded an update to Lahav 433 - The National Crime Unit.
The investigation found that a Palestinian resident of Kafr Sur, west of Nablus in the West Bank, was smuggling stolen car parts from Israel to Jordan, leading to his arrest on June 4 under suspicion of registering the export license in the name of an Israeli resident in order to bypass restrictions on exporting car parts from Israel, the police statement added.
Attempting to obscure vehicle IDs
A further investigation raised suspicions that the suspect had received stolen electric vehicles and attempted to obscure the vehicle identification numbers.Police repeatedly extended the suspect's detention, and following an investigation, the case was transferred to the Israeli military police prosecutors.
An indictment was submitted on Tuesday against the suspect along with a request to detain them until investigation proceedings are completed, the police added.
