Last update - 00:00 30/09/2007
Five IDF soldiers convicted of dealing firearms, narcotics
By Haaretz Service
A military court Thursday convicted five Israel Defense Forces soldiers, some of them career soldiers, of involvement in dealing firearms - mostly M-16s and Kalashnikovs - and narcotics.
Sergeant Major M.A. was sentenced to a prison term of six years and nine months. The others received jail sentences ranging from a year and three months to 30 months.
In addition, the soldiers were fined, demoted to the rank of private, and had their driving licenses revoked.
The five, who had served as combat soldiers and trackers in the IDF Southern Command, were arrested in February 2007 following a covert investigation by the military police.
The men were convicted of various counts of selling arms and munitions, and of dealing hashish. One of the soldiers was also convicted of dealing heroin.