Ashdod man accused of smuggling millions worth of cigarettes

Tel Aviv [Israel], April 2 (ANI/TPS): Israel's Tax Authority reported that Armias Besufkad from Ashdod, an employee of a company that provides services for marine transport vessels in the port of Ashdod, is accused of smuggling dozens of cartons of cigarettes under "aggravating circumstances." This is according to an indictment submitted to the Ashkelon Magistrate's Court.
According to the indictment filed by the Tax Authority, the accused was at the head of a number of smuggling incidents that took place between August 2023 and January 2024.
To carry out the smuggling, the accused allegedly employed a number of people, Israelis and foreigners, who assisted him - from loading the cartons of cigarettes at the port of Alexandria in Egypt to smuggling them into Israel on top of vehicles from the port Ashdod.
The defendant, together with others, smuggled the cigarettes in order to avoid paying import taxes and circumventing prohibitions for importers. The total amount of unpaid import taxes for the smuggled cigarettes is estimated at millions of Shekels. (ANI/TPS)