Israeli customs officials at the port in Ashdod thwarted an attempt to smuggle cigarettes with an estimated tax value of approximately 20 million Shekels ($5.4 million).
Yaniv Avidan, a resident of Beer Ya’akov – a city in central Israel – was arrested on suspicion of smuggling the cigarettes.
The arrest request submitted by the narcotics unit at Ashdod Customs indicates that at the beginning of October an import declaration was submitted to Ashdod Customs by the importer “Evelin Art Gallery Ltd” for 10 import containers of washing powders and sanitary napkins. The import documents submitted indicate that the shipment was sent First to the importer “A.A. Management Thoughts and Business Consulting Ltd.” and then the company A.A. Transferred ownership prior to customs clearance to the Evelyn company.
Last Sunday (October 27) Ashdod Customs inspected one of the containers, and found cigarettes of various types including Winston, LM, Manchester, and PINE, contrary to what was declared.
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