Infiltrating an International Cargo Dock Smuggling Ring

An editorial reconstruction of an undercover customs inspector working inside Ashdod Port during a long smuggling investigation. (Digital Illustration: GoBeyondLocal)

Infiltrating an International Cargo Dock Smuggling Ring

For four and a half years, a customs inspector worked inside Ashdod Port under a false identity.

The people dealing with him saw a port employee whose job involved cargo inspection. The police saw something else: an undercover officer placed inside a network suspected of moving illegal goods through one of Israel's major entry points.

His code name was Jack Sparrow.

The operation began in 2020, when Israeli police and the Tax Authority set out to understand how goods were being moved through Ashdod Port with the help of corrupt insiders.

A police officer was selected for the assignment and trained by the Tax Authority. He qualified as a customs inspector before taking up the role inside the port.

His work required him to live as a port employee while investigators outside the operation followed the information he gathered.

The port gave the undercover officer access to the people who handled imported cargo. His contacts included importers, customs brokers and officials connected with the movement of goods through the port.

Over time, he developed relationships with people who were willing to involve him in their activities. Some suspects allegedly offered him money so cargo could receive favourable treatment during customs procedures.

The payments were sometimes worth tens or hundreds of thousands of shekels.

The requests placed him in a position where an ordinary customs inspection could become part of a criminal arrangement.

According to investigators, people asked him to misrepresent the contents of incoming shipments. Goods entering Israel could be described differently from what was actually inside the containers, allowing prohibited or unauthorised products to move through the port.

The alleged activity covered several types of contraband, including illegal weapons, drugs, tobacco and counterfeit goods.

The investigation also reached beyond individual shipments. Police and tax investigators alleged that the same network was connected to tax offences and money laundering.

The sums involved grew into tens of millions of shekels, according to the authorities.

For the undercover officer, the work required years of contact with people who believed they were dealing with a customs employee who could help them move cargo. For investigators, those contacts were building a picture of how the suspected network functioned.

Reports about the operation later described some of the methods used to conceal goods. Tobacco was allegedly hidden inside parts of mannequins. Luxury clothing and footwear were placed in containers described as carrying cheaper merchandise, while other shipments involved vehicle parts and vehicles lacking required approval.

Investigators also linked the case to weapons and other dangerous or unauthorised products.

The variety of goods showed the investigators that the suspected activity involved more than a single type of contraband.

The undercover work continued through 2021, 2022 and 2023, with the officer maintaining his position inside the port. The length of the assignment gave investigators time to collect information across a wide network rather than relying on one shipment or one suspect.

Importers from Israel and the West Bank came under scrutiny, along with customs brokers, customs personnel and other people connected to cargo clearance.

The case was handled jointly by Israeli police and tax investigators, with prosecutors involved as the evidence developed.

By September 2024, the operation had reached its public phase.

Police and the Tax Authority announced that the four-and-a-half-year undercover investigation had ended. Arrest teams moved against dozens of suspects linked to the investigation, including importers, customs brokers and customs personnel.

The operation was described as the longest undercover agent investigation in the history of the Israeli police.

The arrests opened the next stage of the case. Suspects were taken for questioning as investigators examined allegations involving smuggling, bribery, tax offences and money laundering.

The undercover officer who had spent years inside the port had completed his role. His identity remained protected, while the evidence gathered during the operation moved into the hands of investigators and prosecutors.