SIM cards seized.
SIM cards seized.IPS Spokesman

A sting operation by an undercover prison guard at the Ramon Prison in the Negev has resulted in the arrest of an Israeli Arab on suspicion of helping terrorist prisoners smuggle SIM cards into the jail. The cards were to be used by the terrorist prisoners for communicating with the outside world.

In the course of the last few months, the guard worked undercover for the Israel Prisons Service's Dror unit, in cooperation with the Israel Police Northern District's Central Unit, which has been tasked with fighting the phenomenon of cellphone smuggling by terror prisoners.

Terror prisoners from the Fatah organization, which is headed by Mahmoud Abbas, offered the jail guard 20,000 shekels to smuggle SIM cards into the jail.

The guard reported the offer to his superiors and then began serving as an agent for the police, in cooperation with the State Attorney's Office. He collected evidence against all of the people involved in the plot. On Monday, a controlled exchange was held in which the agent met the man who was to supply the SIM cards and the money – an Arab from eastern Jerusalem who is an Israeli citizen.

In the operation, 20,000 shekels were seized, as were 156 SIM cards and a commercial van.

The two prisoners from Ramon jail were (re-)arrested and taken to interrogation by the Northern District's Central Unit, and are to be arraigned Tuesday. One is serving a life sentence for murder and the other is serving 19 years for manslaughter.