Ashdod Man Jailed for Smuggling 10 Million Cigarettes
Translated & summarized from Maariv by baba
Chaim Cohen, 51, of Ashdod, was sentenced to 34 months in prison and a 500,000 shekel fine for smuggling over 10 million cigarettes from the UAE. He used a fake container and false documents claiming the shipment contained nylon products to evade taxes. The scheme was discovered by customs officials shortly after the container was unloaded, leading to Cohen's arrest and indictment.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Chaim Cohen was sentenced to 34 months in prison for smuggling over 10 million cigarettes.
- He attempted to evade taxes by using a fake container and false documents.
- The smuggled cigarettes originated from the United Arab Emirates.
- Cohen was also fined 500,000 shekels.
- The scheme involved a decoy container filled with nylon products.
- Customs officials discovered the smuggling operation shortly after the container was unloaded.
Chaim Cohen, a 51-year-old resident of Ashdod, has been sentenced to 34 months in prison and fined half a million shekels for attempting to smuggle over 10 million cigarettes from the United Arab Emirates into Israel. Cohen devised a scheme to evade taxes by creating a false declaration for the shipping container, claiming it contained nylon products worth just over 78,000 shekels. The tax on these items, which included only VAT, amounted to 13,612 shekels, a fraction of the tax due on cigarettes.
Cohen submitted updated false documents for the container multiple times to customs officials. The container arrived in Israel in September 2023 and was stored until its release. Simultaneously, Cohen and accomplices prepared a second, identical container, painted yellow and bearing the same identification number as the original. This decoy container was loaded with the same nylon products listed on the original bill of lading, intended to deceive customs inspectors if examined.
The plan was to move the containers between storage areas near the port. The intention was to present the fake container to customs while the real one, filled with cigarettes, would be removed from the compound under the cover of darkness. Cohen monitored the movement of the containers from his vehicle.
Customs officials discovered the smuggling operation shortly after the container was unloaded. Following an investigation involving tax authority and police detectives, Cohen was indicted in the Beersheba District Court. He faced charges including smuggling goods under aggravating circumstances, possessing untaxed goods, using fraudulent documents, and dealing in illicit property.
In addition to the prison sentence and a three-year suspended sentence, Cohen was ordered to pay a 500,000 shekel fine.
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