Female Israeli veteran arrested entering Thailand with bullets in backpack

Just 5 days after being released from the IDF, a young woman going on vacation with her family gets arrested because she forgot to remove M-16 bullets from her backpack.

By Itamar Eichner

 

An Israeli in her 20s on her way to Thailand on vacation was arrested on Wednesday at the Bangkok Airport after security found 13 bullets for an M-16 rifle in her bag, forgotten there after she was released from the IDF only five days prior.

My Crystal Ball says this will happen again & again – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

She was questioned at a police station in the airport, and on Thursday she is expected to be brought in front of a military judge.

The young woman landed in Bangkok on a layover on her way to Chiang Mai when the bullets were discovered. It is unclear why the bullets were not discovered during the security check at Ben-Gurion Airport.

Israel’s Embassy in Bangkok has come to the aid of the young Israeli and will try to explain to the Thai that this was an innocent mistake.

In recent years, several Israeli citizens were arrested abroad when bullets forgotten there after their army service were found in their luggage. India is where this has happened most.

The latest such incident happened last October when Shai Magen from Tel Aviv was arrested in the New Delhi Airport after a bullet was found in his bag. He was released six hours later with the aid of the Israeli consul.

The most well-known case was that of tourist guide Gili Heskin, who was arrested in India ten years ago after a single bullet was found in his bag. He spent 20 days in jail and was then on house arrest for half a year, after which he was finally allowed to return to Israel.

 

View original Ynet publication at: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4683276,00.html