According to Bild, a tip from a foreign intelligence service led to the arrest.
The anti-terrorist special unit arrested a 32-year-old Iranian man suspected of preparing an Islamist terrorist attack in Castrop-Rauxel in the Ruhr region of Germany at night.
According to the German authorities, the man acquired cyanide and ricin to carry out a terrorist attack. The Düsseldorf prosecutor and the local police authorities will tell you about it.
The highly toxic ricin has been defined as a chemical weapon. Cyanide is also extremely toxic.
In addition to the Iranian man, the police have also arrested another man on suspicion of a crime.
It is still unclear how far the attack was planned and whether the target was thought out. The investigation is still ongoing.
Due to the chemical danger, in addition to the special forces, employees of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), i.e. Germany’s infectious disease specialist, also participated in the arrest operation. says Bild newspaper (you will switch to another service).
A foreign tip led to an arrest
The officers who made the arrest were wearing protective gear, and a large area was cordoned off during the arrest. Rescue workers wearing protective gear collected samples from the scene in blue bottles, the German news agency dpa says.
Local eyewitnesses said that the detainees were caught wearing only their underwear. They were taken half-naked in open jackets to the emergency vehicle.
– The arrested person is suspected of planning an act that endangers the state, the police said.
According to the police, poisons and other evidence have been found on the suspect.
The local broadcasting company According to WDR (you switch to another service) the suspects would be brothers.
According to Bild magazine, the German security authorities had already been investigating the case for several days and a “friendly foreign intelligence service” had warned the German authorities of the danger of a chemical attack.
A couple was also arrested in Germany in 2018, who were suspected of preparing a chemical terrorist attack. Even then, the terrorist attack was prevented due to a tip from a foreign intelligence service.
The couple was According to Der Spiegel magazine (you will switch to another service) intending to manufacture so much ricin that it would have been calculated to kill 13,500 people. The realization of the couple’s plan, on the other hand, could have claimed the lives of 200 people.