Passport loophole: Yeshiva student admits smuggling criminals abroad

Passport loophole: Yeshiva student admits smuggling criminals abroad

Jerusalem yeshiva student reveals how he used his passport to smuggle people barred from leaving Israel through Ben Gurion Airport; is released to house arrest.

AIRPORT SECURITY BREACH: Yerushalayim Avreich Admits Helping Criminal Flee Israel Through Ben Gurion Airport, Reveals He Did It Before

A Yerushalayim avreich in his 30s has admitted to Israeli police that he helped a known criminal leave the country despite being under house arrest, using a scheme that allegedly allowed individuals barred from traveling abroad to bypass passport control at Ben Gurion Airport. The suspect also acknowledged that this was not the first time he had facilitated such an unauthorized departure. The details of the investigation were revealed Sunday evening by Li Ayish, head of the crime desk at i24NEWS, during the network’s main news broadcast. The avreich was arrested in recent days by officers from the Modiin Illit police station after authorities investigated how a criminal subject to house arrest had managed to leave Israel. Ayish had reported the previous week that the criminal succeeded in traveling overseas despite restrictions that should have prevented him from leaving the country. The latest disclosures provide an account of how the suspect allegedly assisted him in evading those restrictions. During questioning, investigators asked the avreich to explain his involvement in arranging the departure. According to the account he provided, the arrangement began when he received a telephone call from someone who was prohibited from leaving Israel but wanted to travel to Uman. “A person called me and said he had a travel ban and wanted to get to Uman because he had never been there,” the avreich told investigators. He reportedly agreed to assist the individual and purchased an airline ticket for him through an online travel booking website. On the scheduled departure date, the two arrived together at Ben Gurion Airport. The suspect then described to police how the traveler allegedly passed through the airport’s automated border-control system while the avreich himself remained in Israel. “At the place where you have to put down a passport, I put down my passport and look at the camera, and he passes through the gate that opens,” he explained. According to the reported confession, the arrangement enabled the other individual to continue toward his flight while the avreich did not leave the country. The suspect’s statements raised serious questions about the security procedures at Israel’s main international airport, particularly how a person subject to an official travel restriction could allegedly pass through border control using another individual’s identification. Investigators also learned that the incident was apparently part of a broader pattern. During his interrogation, the avreich acknowledged that he had previously used the same method to help others leave Israel, indicating that the case under investigation was not an isolated occurrence. Police sought to extend the suspect’s detention while continuing their investigation. However, despite his reported admissions, the court rejected the request to keep him in custody and ordered his release under restrictive conditions. The judge directed that the avreich remain under house arrest for eight days as the investigation continues. {Matzav.com}