The Israel Police on Sunday arrested a man suspected of possessing a cache of weapons and explosives believed to be intended for criminal or terrorist use.
The suspect, a man in his 20s, was arrested upon landing at Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on Sunday morning, according to the statement.
Officers from the Jerusalem District Police, assisted by Israel Border Police canine units, uncovered the weapons cache during operations in a residential building in Jerusalem over the weekend.
Police said the cache included 36 grenades, explosive charges, rifles, a large quantity of ammunition and other “combat equipment.” Some of the weapons were hidden inside children’s playrooms, it added.
According to an initial investigation, the seized weapons included military equipment suspected of having been stolen from the Israel Defense Forces or combat zones.
“These explosives were stored in the heart of a civilian neighborhood and inside a residential apartment building, posing an immediate and serious danger to the lives of its residents,” police added.
The theft of firearms and ammunition from IDF bases has been a long-standing problem and forms a main source of weapons for the criminal underworld.
