Israel foils weapons, drugs smuggling over Jordan-Israel border

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JERUSALEM, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Israeli forces have thwarted attempted arms and drugs smuggling over the Jordan-Israel border, Israel's army said Thursday.

In the joint operation, military and police forces prevented the smuggling of 37 weapons and drugs worth 2.5 million shekels (770,000 U.S. dollars) from Jordan into Israeli territory, the army said in a statement.

"The security forces conducted searches in the area where the smuggling took place," the army statement said, adding 34 handguns, 2 assault rifles, a sniper rifle, ammunition and a number of bags containing drugs were seized, and two suspects arrested at the scene.

"The suspects, weapons and ammunition were transferred to the Israel police," the statement said.