A Hezbollah terrorist plot targeting Israeli soldiers was recently exposed, as the Israel Police and Shin Bet security agency uncovered a drugs and weapons smuggling ring and arrested seven suspects, all residents of the northern border town of Ghajar, the police said Thursday. The suspects were named as Youssef Kahamuz, 34; Mohsin Kahamuz, 21; Diab Kahamuz, 31; Jamil Kahamuz, 29; Mamdouh Ibrahim, 21; Maher Hirbawi, 29; and Adal Awinat, 29. While Hirbawi faces drug trafficking charges, the other six suspects face more serious charges, including espionage, contact with a foreign agent, aiding and abetting the enemy in wartime, arms trafficking and drug trafficking. According to a police statement released Thursday, the first clues of the plot were discovered in July, when a farmer in the northern town of Metula discovered an explosive device hidden in a bag left on the side of a local road. The explosives were safely neutralized by police sappers, eventually leading investigators to believe they were smuggled into Israel from across the Lebanese border, indicating Hezbollah might be involved. According to available details, the explosives were smuggled into Israel by several Ghajar-based suspects, who were assisted by another relative who acted as their liaison to Hezbollah. Over the past year, Israeli security forces uncovered several drug trafficking rings smuggling narcotics from Lebanon to Israel. Hezbollah controls all drug trafficking routes in southern Lebanon, and often uses drug dealers to smuggle weapons into Israel. Investigators believe Diab and Jamil Kahamuz were in direct contact with Hezbollah operatives, and both facilitated drugs and arms smuggling for the Shiite terrorist group, as well as providing it with information on the presence of Israeli soldiers in the Haifa area. Haifa is home to several military bases, including large air force and naval training facilities. It is also believed Diab received two explosive devices from his Hezbollah contact and was planning a terrorist attack on a factory in Nesher, a town northeast of Haifa, and had enlisted the help of his brothers, Youssef and Jamil. Diab had allegedly suggested an alternative location for the Hezbollah attack -- the Turan junction, north of Nazareth, which has several bus and hitchhiking stops used by soldiers. The Kahamuz brothers are also accused of taking surveillance photos of various locations, including in Haifa and the Turan junction, scouted as potential locations for terrorist attacks. The prosecution believes they had also conspired to destroy computers and other communication devices, fearing they might implicate them in direct contact with Hezbollah.
