Thai media reported on Friday that a 26-year-old Israeli tourist was arrested at the Phuket airport after a search of his luggage found a cartridge full of military ammunition.
According to reports, the young man, who was carrying a black suitcase, was in possession of a magazine containing 29 bullets in the 5.56 mm caliber - a type of ammunition used in military rifles such as the M16 and M4 used by the IDF.
The Israeli was arrested by airport security forces and questioned on suspicion of illegal possession of ammunition. Authorities confiscated the magazine and turned it over as evidence as part of the criminal proceedings opened against him.
According to reports, this is another incident in a series of similar cases in which Israeli citizens were arrested in Thailand after ammunition was found in their possession that was apparently forgotten from military equipment bags. In recent years, several cases of this type have been reported, in which tourists were required to pay fines or face local prosecution, even when they claimed that it was due to forgetfulness.