Five indicted in Shin Bet bust of weapons ring in South and West Bank

The Southern District Attorney’s Office on Sunday filed indictments against five men in the Beersheba District Court for dealing illegal weapons in the South and the West Bank.

The ring was busted by the combined efforts of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the police and has been under gag order, with only some of the details being released on Sunday.

Focusing on 40-year-old Arad resident Marcelo Birindorf who ran a shooting range in the town, including for the Israeli police, they uncovered his illegal sales of around 160,000 bullets as well as sales of pistols and a Karl Gustav rifle, said a police statement.

From the second half of 2014 until November 21 this year, the Arad man allegedly sold the weapons to two men who then sold to others, including Palestinians in Ramallah and Hebron.

His modus operandi was to misreport the number of bullets used at the shooting range and then to illegally sell the extra unused bullets for around NIS 320,000.

He also bought additional bullets which he then illegally resold.

The police and the Shin Bet warned that such illegal sales could lead to weapons coming into “the hands of hostile forces.”

The investigation led to the seizure of several weapons and over 20,000 9 mm. bullets.

The state requested that all of the defendants be held in police custody until the end of their trial.