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Israeli citizen Yuri Shaulov, left, is accused of trafficking airsoft guns to West Bank resident Muhammad Abu Hiya, right, according to the Shin Bet, February 3, 2021. (Courtesy/Government Press Office)
Three Israelis were charged on Wednesday with smuggling air-powered rifles into the West Bank, where they were converted into lethal weapons, the Shin Bet security service said. The Shin Bet and Israel Police also arrested three Palestinian residents of Hebron, in the West Bank, in the operation, the Shin Bet said.
Israel’s Southern District state prosecutor filed “severe indictments” against all suspects in the case on Wednesday in a Southern District Court, the Shin Bet said, without specifying the charges.
Israel
By Hamodia Staff
YERUSHALAYIM -
Wednesday, February 3, 2021 at 2:28 pm | כ א שבט תשפ א
Airsoft battle guns on display. Airsoft is a sport similar to paintball where contestants shoot guns loaded with small ceramic balls as bullets that do not cause injuries. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
The Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency/ISA), in cooperation with the Israel Police, has arrested three Israeli citizens and three residents of Chevron on suspicion of trafficking in airsoft guns and parts in Yehuda and Shomron in order to convert them to potentially lethal arms.
The investigation centered on Yuri Shaulov, a resident of Sderot, who deals in airsoft guns in his store. Over the past two years, Shaulov also trafficked in airsoft guns and parts with Muhammad Abu Hiya, a Chevron weapons dealer who sold the same guns and parts he bought from Shaulov to various elements who converted them to firing weapons.