KUALA LUMPUR – A Malaysian married couple were arrested for allegedly supplying firearms to an Israeli man suspected to be an intelligence agent, the local media reported on March 30.
The police said they do not rule out the possibility that more Malaysians are involved in the case, and have stepped up security measures for the King, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and other leaders.
The arrest of the couple came after an Israeli man, 36, was nabbed on March 27 at a hotel in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, for carrying pistols and ammunition.
The Star reported that he had travelled from the United Arab Emirates and entered Malaysia on March 12 using a French passport, but handed over an Israeli passport after further investigation.
Six pistols and 200 bullets were seized from the Israeli, who claimed that he had entered Malaysia to hunt down and kill a fellow Israeli over a family dispute.
The guns included a Sig Sauer, two Glocks and a Smith & Wesson, which the suspect claimed to have purchased in Malaysia using cryptocurrency. Three of the guns were found to be loaded when the police seized them.
The police said on March 29 that their investigations were focused on the possibility that the suspect is an Israeli intelligence agent.
On March 30, Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain said the couple who were arrested were believed to have obtained the guns from a neighbouring country.
“We are also in the midst of establishing why they had another gun in their possession,” he told local newspaper Berita Harian. A pistol was recovered from a backpack inside the couple’s Honda Jazz car after they were taken back to their residence in Kuala Selangor, Selangor state. They were believed to have supplied six pistols to the Israeli.
The couple, who are in their 40s, were arrested on the evening of March 29 at a Ramadan bazaar in Kuala Selangor, the local media reported. The Malaysian police, on high alert after the arrest of the Israeli, are expected to seek a remand order on the couple for further investigations.
Another local man believed to be the driver of the alleged Israeli spy was arrested in Cameron Highlands in Pahang state after the Israeli was detained, the local media reported.
On the same day, the opposition alliance Perikatan Nasional urged the government to look into Malaysia’s security and border controls to repel foreign threats and prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future.
Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad has been suspected of operating in Malaysia in the past.
In October 2022, agents of Mossad allegedly kidnapped a Palestinian man in Kuala Lumpur and interrogated him at a remote Selangor chalet. The Palestinian was a computer programmer believed to be linked to militant group Hamas.
In 2018, Gaza-born electrical engineer Fadi Mohammed al-Batsh, a member of Hamas, was gunned down by two motorcyclists in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia, which does not have diplomatic ties with Israel, has traditionally expressed strong support for the Palestinians, including in the ongoing war in Gaza.
The war was sparked by a Hamas attack on Oct 7, 2023, that led to 1,160 deaths in Israel and triggered retaliatory strikes by the Israeli military that have since resulted in more than 32,600 deaths in Gaza.
