A Bedouin man who works with his family as a cigarette smuggler has been charged with helping Hamas bring weapons to Gaza. Hassan Ali Suarcha was charged on Monday in the Be'er Sheva District Court with weapons smuggling and providing material aide to a terrorist organization.
Police say the Suarcha family, a Bedouin clan based primarily in the Sinai Peninsula, is involved in smuggling cigarettes and tobacco from Egypt to Israel. Cigarette smuggling is a lucrative trade – smugglers can earn twice the average monthly salary in just one day, and the trade as a whole brings in tens of millions of shekels each year.
Hassan Suarcha was one of several smugglers who began using his route to bring dozens of Kalashnikov rifles to Hamas, police say. The rifles were hidden in sacks of tobacco. The smugglers were paid $500 for the merchandise, which was taken directly from Sinai to Gaza.
Hassan and others were caught after finding work in a small Jewish community near Gaza. Police heard that smugglers were working in the area, and arrested the group.
One member of the Suarcha clan has admitted to playing a role in the weapons smuggling, and has implicated several others as well.