Israel foils 1.6-mln-USD drug-smuggling attempt on border with Egypt

JERUSALEM, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Israeli troops have thwarted an attempt to smuggle drugs worth about 6 million shekels (1.6 million U.S. dollars) into Israel from Egypt, the military said Sunday.

The Israeli soldiers on Saturday "spotted a number of suspects attempting to smuggle drugs from Egyptian territory into Israeli territory," the military said in a statement.

More soldiers were dispatched to the scene and pursued suspects, it added.

The forces confiscated 32 kg of suspected marijuana worth about 3.5 million shekels and 30 kg of suspected hashish worth about 2.7 million shekels, according to the military.

It was the second drug smuggling attempt in less than a week. On Tuesday, Israeli troops foiled an attempt to smuggle drugs worth about 18 million shekels from Jordan and arrested three suspects.