Six people were arrested and eight others detained on Monday by the Israel Police Lahav 433 national crimes unit as part of an investigation into a smuggling ring responsible for bringing hundreds of foreign nationals into Israel.

The smuggling network, which operated out of Rishon Letzion, is believed to have brought over a thousand Georgian nationals into Israel since 2017.

The suspects include contract workers at the Israel Airports Authority, who are alleged to have bypassed security mechanisms and passport control at Ben-Gurion International Airport.

They allegedly received as much as $10,000 per person to smuggle Georgians into Israel, some of whom came to work in the country.