Customs officers at Ben Gurion Airport are shocked: This is what they found in a tourist's suitcase from the US

October 30, 2024   

US citizen arrested on suspicion of smuggling e-cigarettes and evading taxes of approximately 200,000 NIS Bernard Teichman, a US resident who came to Israel to travel, was brought before the Rishon Lezion Magistrate's Court on suspicion of smuggling e-cigarettes in a commercial quantity equivalent to approximately 850 packs of cigarettes - while evading taxes of approximately 200,000 NIS. Judge Rivka Galt released the suspect with restrictive conditions. The arrest request submitted by the Ben Gurion Airport Customs Narcotics Unit indicates that the suspect arrived from the US and entered through the green lane at Ben Gurion Airport. Customs inspectors asked to inspect his luggage and upon inspection were shocked to find electronic cigarettes in a quantity equivalent to 444 packs of cigarettes. As part of his investigation, the suspicion arose that Teichman smuggled a similar quantity of electronic cigarettes into Israel last Passover, passed through the green lane and did not declare them as required. The investigation indicates that, according to the suspicion, Teichman smuggled electronic cigarettes in the last six months in a volume equivalent to 850 packs of cigarettes and in all evaded paying taxes of approximately 200,000 shekels.