Israel arguably has the most active border security in the world, with authorities on constant alert for arms smuggling and the infiltration of suicide bombers.But now another dark trade has emerged as a real problem for Israel - the traffic in women.Authorities say crime syndicates have smuggled in thousands of women to work as cheap labour prostitutes, mostly from Russia and other former Soviet Republics.This report from Middle East correspondent Mark Willacy.
MARK WILLACY: For thousands of years, the Bedouin have made their home in the biblical wilderness of the Sinai and Negev deserts. The tribe survived by raising herds of sheep, goats and camels. But some Bedouin are now embracing a different trade - smuggling drugs and prostitutes from Egypt into Israel.
Hunting the Bedouin smugglers is a new unit of border police. It's enlisted the help of some of Israels own Bedouin citizens to act as trackers. These troops specialise in camouflage, digging graves in the desert sand where they lie in wait for the smugglers for up to 36 hours. It's a job that demands great patience and stamina.
With darkness about to fall, it's time for the camouflage unit to move into position for a long night of waiting.
Chief superintendent Amnon Ziv runs anti-smuggling operations on the Israeli side of the border. In the past year, his team has caught 130 prostitutes and more than 40 tonnes of drugs. Tonight he has fresh information which could crack one of the smuggling rings.
CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT AMNON ZIV, ISRAELI BORDER POLICE: Tonight we have intelligence about possible entrance of almost four tonnes of tobacco and drugs. Also some women are supposed to cross the border. This is all from three different places, so we have ambushes ready in those areas.
MARK WILLACY: Relying on night vision goggles to move undetected through the pitch-black, chief superintendent Ziv and his team head to one of the ambush sites.
At the same time the women who have managed to slip over the border are plying their trade on the streets of Tel Aviv. In contrast to the religious atmosphere of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv is a secular and somewhat seedy metropolis with bars, nightclubs and brothels. Nearly all of these women have been purchased over the internet by Israeli crime gangs who they suspect of having links to the Russian mafia. The going rate is between US $3,500 and US $7,000.
SUPERINTENDENT ELY LEVY, ISRAEL POLICE: I can't imagine that in this century there are people who are slaves, they are buying them with money. They are making them a test. If you have blue eyes, I will pay more money. If you are taller, I will pay more money. If you are ugly, I'll pay less money.
MARK WILLACY: About once a week, foreign prostitutes are brought into Superintendent Levy's custody centre to wait for deportation.
One of them is Marusya. The 23-year-old Russian describes how she flew from Moscow to Egypt after agreeing to work as a prostitute in Israel.
MARUSYA: We reached Egypt and then boarded a bus. We were taken to a prearranged location and handed over to some Bedouins who had a jeep. They took us to the border and we then simply walked across. There were about 15 other girls from Russia, Moldova and Uzbekistan.
MARK WILLACY: Marusya says she was eventually taken to Tel Aviv, where she was told to work out of the city's bus station. She slept with up to 20 men a day.
MARUSYA: I was getting $5 per customer at the beginning, but then I got a raise and I could keep all the tips I was getting. Nobody took anything away from me.
MARK WILLACY: Most of these women come from the former Soviet Union and human rights groups estimate that there are up to 7,000 sex slaves still in Israel. Despite being given greater powers of search and arrest, the Israeli police believe the crime gangs are winning the battle.
SUPERINTENDENT ELY LEVY: What we are doing now here in the police, we are catching those girls and sending them back. It's hurting them, but I believe they will never stop because it's a lot of money. It's like drugs and even more than drugs.
MARK WILLACY: While the Israel crime gangs earn millions, the Bedouin smugglers make relatively little and risk a lot.
Bedouin tribesman Yid Kascha admits he knows about the smuggling operations, but he turns a blind eye to the rackets.
YID KASCHA: They are smuggling, but with no intention to harm Israel. I'm speaking about the Bedouins who are smuggling drugs. They're not like the Gaza smugglers who send weapons to the West Bank. We care about the security of Israel.
MARK WILLACY: The smugglers are on ongoing headache for Amnon Ziv. This night he's been told of three separate smuggling attempts, but his team has nothing to show for the hours spent waiting in the desert cold. Chief superintendent Ziv acknowledges that he's up against a wily enemy.
CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT AMNON ZIV: It's harder to smuggle in women than drugs, but prostitutes are much more
profitable for the smugglers. A lot more money is involved.
MARK WILLACY: Faced with Palestinian terrorism, Israel has developed some of the most sophisticated border defences in the world. But this desert wilderness is proving more difficult to police than the borders with the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
And hundreds of young women are ready to risk this desert crossing despite the uncertain future that awaits them inside Israel. For 23-year-old Marusya, her life as a prostitute in Israel was a much better choice than staying in Russia.
MARUSYA: I was told right away how much money I would be getting and what the work would be.
It's true that for the first month, I worked to repay the travel expenses. All the girls have to do that. But the people I worked for were nice people. I am not sorry because living in Russia now is very difficult.
Reporter: Mark Willacy
MARK WILLACY: For thousands of years, the Bedouin have made their home in the biblical wilderness of the Sinai and Negev deserts. The tribe survived by raising herds of sheep, goats and camels. But some Bedouin are now embracing a different trade - smuggling drugs and prostitutes from Egypt into Israel.
Hunting the Bedouin smugglers is a new unit of border police. It's enlisted the help of some of Israels own Bedouin citizens to act as trackers. These troops specialise in camouflage, digging graves in the desert sand where they lie in wait for the smugglers for up to 36 hours. It's a job that demands great patience and stamina.
With darkness about to fall, it's time for the camouflage unit to move into position for a long night of waiting.
Chief superintendent Amnon Ziv runs anti-smuggling operations on the Israeli side of the border. In the past year, his team has caught 130 prostitutes and more than 40 tonnes of drugs. Tonight he has fresh information which could crack one of the smuggling rings.
CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT AMNON ZIV, ISRAELI BORDER POLICE: Tonight we have intelligence about possible entrance of almost four tonnes of tobacco and drugs. Also some women are supposed to cross the border. This is all from three different places, so we have ambushes ready in those areas.
MARK WILLACY: Relying on night vision goggles to move undetected through the pitch-black, chief superintendent Ziv and his team head to one of the ambush sites.
At the same time the women who have managed to slip over the border are plying their trade on the streets of Tel Aviv. In contrast to the religious atmosphere of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv is a secular and somewhat seedy metropolis with bars, nightclubs and brothels. Nearly all of these women have been purchased over the internet by Israeli crime gangs who they suspect of having links to the Russian mafia. The going rate is between US $3,500 and US $7,000.
SUPERINTENDENT ELY LEVY, ISRAEL POLICE: I can't imagine that in this century there are people who are slaves, they are buying them with money. They are making them a test. If you have blue eyes, I will pay more money. If you are taller, I will pay more money. If you are ugly, I'll pay less money.
MARK WILLACY: About once a week, foreign prostitutes are brought into Superintendent Levy's custody centre to wait for deportation.
One of them is Marusya. The 23-year-old Russian describes how she flew from Moscow to Egypt after agreeing to work as a prostitute in Israel.
MARUSYA: We reached Egypt and then boarded a bus. We were taken to a prearranged location and handed over to some Bedouins who had a jeep. They took us to the border and we then simply walked across. There were about 15 other girls from Russia, Moldova and Uzbekistan.
MARK WILLACY: Marusya says she was eventually taken to Tel Aviv, where she was told to work out of the city's bus station. She slept with up to 20 men a day.
MARUSYA: I was getting $5 per customer at the beginning, but then I got a raise and I could keep all the tips I was getting. Nobody took anything away from me.
MARK WILLACY: Most of these women come from the former Soviet Union and human rights groups estimate that there are up to 7,000 sex slaves still in Israel. Despite being given greater powers of search and arrest, the Israeli police believe the crime gangs are winning the battle.
SUPERINTENDENT ELY LEVY: What we are doing now here in the police, we are catching those girls and sending them back. It's hurting them, but I believe they will never stop because it's a lot of money. It's like drugs and even more than drugs.
MARK WILLACY: While the Israel crime gangs earn millions, the Bedouin smugglers make relatively little and risk a lot.
Bedouin tribesman Yid Kascha admits he knows about the smuggling operations, but he turns a blind eye to the rackets.
YID KASCHA: They are smuggling, but with no intention to harm Israel. I'm speaking about the Bedouins who are smuggling drugs. They're not like the Gaza smugglers who send weapons to the West Bank. We care about the security of Israel.
MARK WILLACY: The smugglers are on ongoing headache for Amnon Ziv. This night he's been told of three separate smuggling attempts, but his team has nothing to show for the hours spent waiting in the desert cold. Chief superintendent Ziv acknowledges that he's up against a wily enemy.
CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT AMNON ZIV: It's harder to smuggle in women than drugs, but prostitutes are much more
profitable for the smugglers. A lot more money is involved.
MARK WILLACY: Faced with Palestinian terrorism, Israel has developed some of the most sophisticated border defences in the world. But this desert wilderness is proving more difficult to police than the borders with the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
And hundreds of young women are ready to risk this desert crossing despite the uncertain future that awaits them inside Israel. For 23-year-old Marusya, her life as a prostitute in Israel was a much better choice than staying in Russia.
MARUSYA: I was told right away how much money I would be getting and what the work would be.
It's true that for the first month, I worked to repay the travel expenses. All the girls have to do that. But the people I worked for were nice people. I am not sorry because living in Russia now is very difficult.
Reporter: Mark Willacy