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Ammon News -

Israeli security forces busted a gun-smuggling network along the Jordanian border, arresting its leader and several members and seizing 10 handguns, law enforcement officials said Sunday, as reported by timesofisrael.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the arrests came amid a “significant rise” in attempts to smuggle weapons and drugs into the country from Jordan and Egypt. Since the beginning of the year, some 300 guns and 2,150 kilograms of various drugs have been seized along the Jordanian and Egyptian borders, the IDF said.

On August 21, soldiers operating surveillance cameras identified a suspect nearing the border from Jordan, according to timesofisrael.

Police said the suspect then handed a bag with 10 handguns to the network’s courier along the border. Soldiers and officers dispatched to the scene arrested the courier and seized the weapons.

The network’s leader and another member tasked with securing the smuggling were arrested nearby as they attempted to flee the scene, police said.

The trio, all in their 30s from southern Bedouin towns near Arad, have remained under arrest since. Police prosecutors are expected to file indictments against them in the coming days.