Prosecutors Charge Gaza Contractor in 51-Kilogram Drug Case

Southern District prosecutors charged Muhannad Abu Yahya, 25, of Rahat with possessing about 40 kilograms of hashish and 11 kilograms of Captagon not for personal use. Investigators said the infrastructure contractor left his Gaza post without authorization, drove to the Philadelphi Corridor and loaded roadside jerrycans into his vehicle before soldiers detained him. Police also seized 98 new mobile phones, but prosecutors did not include them in the indictment and said evidence was insufficient for a trafficking charge inside Gaza. Abu Yahya said he believed the containers held diesel and discarded one after becoming frightened by warning fire.