Monitoring Desk
BERLIN: An Iranian citizen has been arrested in western Germany suspected of plotting a chemical bomb attack using ricin and cyanide, prosecutors and police said Sunday.
The Duesseldorf prosecutors’ office and Muenster police said in a news release that officers searched a residence in the Castrop-Rauxel town for “toxic substances” intended to plan an attack.
The 32-year-old Iranian man was “suspected of having prepared a serious act of violence threatening the security of the state by obtaining cyanide and ricin to commit a terrorist attack, investigators said.
According to a spokeswoman for the police, the arrest was carried out on Saturday evening. Another person, said to be the key suspect’s brother, was also taken into custody during the operation, she said.
Police said the 32-year-old suspect would be presented to an investigating judge before possible pre-trial detention.
Police suspect Iranian man of plotting chemical attack
Ricin is an extremely toxic substance, which is classed in Germany as a “chemical weapon”. Similar to cyanide, ricin can be fatal.
Agents carried out the raids while wearing protective suits due to the chemical hazard, local media reported.
The German daily Bild reported that several days ago, a foreign intelligence service had tipped off authorities to the risk of an attack with a “chemical bomb”.
In 2018, a Tunisian man and his wife were held on suspicion of plotting a biological bomb attack in Germany.
The couple, who sympathized with the Islamic State group, was found in possession of 84 milligrams of ricin in their Cologne apartment. The man was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2020, while his wife received an eight-year sentence.
Germany has been targeted in recent years by several terrorist attacks, including a 2016 truck attack on a Christmas market that killed 12 people and left dozens injured.
A 13th victim died five years later, having suffered severe injuries in the assault.
