AL-ARISH: An Egyptian court has jailed an Israeli tourist for five years after he was caught with hashish in Sharm El-Sheikh, a security official said Thursday.
Israeli national Ben Yussef Isaac, 51, was sentenced to five years prison on Wednesday for drugs possession, the official at the court in south Sinai told AFP.
Isaac was arrested in September after an unspecified quantity of hashish was discovered in his baggage at a hotel in the popular resort. He told authorities the drug was for personal use.
In February, an Egyptian court sentenced two Israeli drug smugglers in absentia to five years jail after they were caught with hashish in their car as they drove into the Sinai from Israel.
The 250-km Egyptian-Israeli border is a major transit route for migrants and smugglers, who usually head the other way into Israel.
The Jewish state regularly accuses Egypt of not doing enough to stop the entry into Israel or the Gaza Strip of everything from arms and drugs to illegal immigrants. -AFP
