A gun-running terrorist gang that also trafficked in drugs was apprehended by security forces recently, it was announced here today. The arrests came as the terrorists were transporting a booby-trapped suitcase containing 50 kilograms of explosives to Jerusalem where they planned to deposit it near a local theater.
The suitcase was safely dismantled averting a possible disaster, security sources said. They said gang members were interrogated for a week during which they disclosed their hideouts in the Jerusalem area where more explosives were discovered. According to police, the gang included several Hebron residents, among them Nur A-Din Jaabari, son of the former Mayor of Hebron, Sheikh Mohammed Ali Al Jaabari, and one Jew identified only as a resident of Bat Yam.
The gang originally specialized in drug smuggling from Arab countries into Israel but branched into gun-running last year and reportedly brought hundreds of kilograms of explosives and shipments of Katyusha rockets and light weapons into the country for use by terrorists and saboteurs. According to the security sources, the gang was responsible for firing Katyusha rockets into Jerusalem last May. No one was hurt in that attack.
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