Police arrest 45 in burglary sting

Dozens of police raided a number of homes and arrested 45 people on suspicion of burglary, drug trafficking or weapons possession in the Tel Aviv District on Wednesday.

Over the past few months police inserted an undercover agent into the Tel Aviv district who, according to police, gathered evidence to incriminate the 45 suspects.

Fifteen of those arrested are suspected of conducting hundreds of burglaries.

“These were criminals who acted with great sophistication and carried out hundreds of acts of burglary,” the Tel Aviv District Police said in a statement.

In addition, 30 suspects were arrested for allegedly trafficking cocaine, MDMA (Ecstasy) and hashish, and also weapons.

The arrests come as the final step in the “My Home, My Fortress,” campaign which has led to the arrest of 46 suspected burglars in the past few weeks. Police have requested that 12 of these 46 suspects be detained until completing their criminal proceedings.

At a ceremony on Wednesday congratulating the officers who worked on the operation, Police Commissioner Insp.-Gen. Roni Alsheich said, “In recent months we have seen sophisticated actions that have brought the arrests of hundreds of actors in criminal networks throughout Israel,” Alsheich said in a statement, later adding, “Many citizens in Israel will sleep with confidence and conduct their business as usual without fear, thanks to this extensive activity.”

Tel Aviv District commander Asst.-Ch. Moshe Edri thanked the unit members for their work and stated that the crime of home burglary “is one of the worst. Beyond the fact that this is an offense defined as a property offense, it is an offense that harms the basic and most personal security of the normative citizen when the criminals enter his home. We, as a police force, cannot and will not accept this attack and will fight it with all our might.”