An undercover investigation which began in cooperation between Lahav 433's Etgar Unit, the National Center for Diagnostics in the Tax Authority, and the customs inspectors at Ben Gurion International Airport raised the suspicion that a number of packages from abroad which contained items seeming to be various toys actually contained weapons parts, which had been hidden inside the toys, Kikar Hashabbat reported.
During the investigation, Lahav 433's Etgar Unit began examining the items, together with the department for criminal identification, and confirmed the suspicion that weapons were being sent in packages from abroad.
The investigation led to cooperation with enforcement officials from various countries, for the purpose of gathering evidence regarding the parcels being sent to Israel.
It is suspected that five people acted at various times to import weapons parts, by means of packages arriving from various countries. As the investigations progressed, police officers from the Etgar Unit succeeded in locating and following the suspects.
On Tuesday morning, as the investigation turned from undercover to open, dozens of police officers from the Etgar Unit and Unit 33 of Lahav 433 raided the suspects' homes, carrying out arrests and conducting searches.
After the conclusion of the searches, the suspects were taken for questioning. Later, they will be brought to court for an extension of their arrests.