Israeli Customs Probes Theft of Contraband Cigarettes Worth Tens of Millions of Shekels

Police and the Tax Authority are investigating a major security failure after stolen contraband cigarettes disappeared from a customs-supervised warehouse near Ashdod Port. The goods, seized in separate operations and used as key evidence in court cases against smuggling networks, were stored in eight large containers under customs oversight.

According to the report, the theft took place over the weekend. The containers were apparently taken out of the facility, emptied of the valuable cigarettes, and returned without anyone noticing at the time. The estimated value of the missing goods is tens of millions of shekels.

The incident caused two kinds of damage, loss of state revenue from the seized smuggled goods and serious harm to evidence in sensitive investigations, some of them conducted together with other security agencies. The breach was discovered only days later, and the report to police was delayed.

The Central Unit of the Lachish District has opened an investigation, and one line of inquiry is whether warehouse employees were involved. No suspects have been arrested yet. A source familiar with the details said, "It is a matter of days until arrests are made in the case, of the perpetrators or others who helped them." The Tax Authority said the case is being investigated by customs and police and involved containers stolen from a licensed warehouse under customs supervision.