Egyptian smugglers managed to smuggle nearly 48 new cars into the Gaza Strip via a tunnel specially made for smuggling vehicles. The Middle East Saudi newspaper said that the smugglers managed to convince the Egyptian Authorities that they were part of a wedding ceremony and that the cars were part of a special wedding march. The incident took place last Tuesday.
Eyewitnesses reported that the smugglers “invented a nice trick in smuggling the cars into Gaza” by organizing this fake wedding where dozens of new cars are driving behind each other.
The smugglers, accompanied by their wives and children, drove the decorated cars while singing and drumming which made Egyptian security personnel believe that this is a wedding march in the Egyptian Rafah.
The cars were not searched and the police did not ask for papers, and the smugglers managed to reach the tunnel opening on the Egyptian side.
Shortly afterwards, the Egyptian Police and Security Forces noticed an unusual movement of vehicles in Al Dahniyya border area.
The security forces attacked the area and managed to recover two vehicles that were inside the tunnel while some 48 vehicles made it into the Gaza Strip.
Most of the smuggled vehicles carry the brands of Hyundai, BMW, and KIA. They carried fake Egyptian license plates.
An Egyptian security source said that the two seized vehicles are BMW and Hyundai, and that there were stolen a while ago in the Egyptian city of Al Arish.
The source added that it is likely that the vehicles that made it into Gaza were stolen from a number of districts in Egypt.
He said that the vehicles will likely be purchased by wealthy individuals in Gaza, and that the number of tunnels meant for smuggling vehicles is very low as Egypt managed to uncover three tunnels earlier this year, north of the Rafah Border Terminal.
This is the first tunnel of its kind to be located south of the terminal.
In related news, the Transportation Ministry in Gaza denied reports speculating that Israel will allow the entry of cars into the besieged coastal region.
