Israel Police in Judea and Samaria foiled a planned car-theft scheme on Route 443 before it could be carried out, arresting two Palestinian suspects who had set up an elaborate ruse to draw Israeli victims into a trap.
Officers from the Binyamin station, working with the Shomron district's crime-fighting unit, tracked suspicious activity and moved in based on precise intelligence. The operation stopped what police say was a carefully planned fraud and robbery attempt before any Israelis arrived at the scene.
According to the investigation, the suspects designed a scheme to lure unsuspecting Israelis to an isolated meeting point in order to steal their vehicle. To gain the victims' trust and lower their suspicions, the suspects initiated a fake purchase of olive oil with a total value of around 7,000 shekels.
To make the transaction appear legitimate and provide what seemed like payment assurance, the suspects sent a photograph of a forged identity card and even a receipt showing payment via a stolen credit card. Once they had won the sellers' confidence, they arranged a meeting point at the entrance to the Palestinian village of Khirbet al-Masbah for the handover of the oil.
