German police have detained a 32-year-old Iranian suspected of obtaining the deadly poisons hydrocyanic acid and ricin to carry out an “Islamist-motivated” attack, western German authorities said on Sunday.
According to a joint statement by the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor’s Office and the police in the towns of Recklinghausen and Münster, the suspect’s residence in the town of Kastrop Lausel was searched as part of the investigation.
“The suspects allegedly procured potassium cyanide and ricin to carry out Muslim-motivated attacks and are suspected of preparing serious acts of violence that endanger the nation,” the statement said.
According to the police, the penalty for this case is six months to 10 years in prison.
Holger Hemming, from the Düsseldorf public prosecutor’s office, told Reuters that police had seized the electronic memory device, but found neither cyanide nor ricin.
Kastrop Rosel is located in Germany’s most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Interior Minister Herbert Royle said, “There was a serious tip-off and the police intervened overnight. Now the authorities are doing their best to investigate.” It’s inside.”
Hemming said he had been tipped off by a security agency in a “friendly country” without elaborating. The tabloid Bild said the agency in question was the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Police said they had detained a second person as part of the search, adding that they would decide at a later date whether to issue a formal arrest warrant as the investigation continues.
Hemming confirmed it was the suspect’s younger brother.
Ricin, a natural substance found in castor oil, can kill a pinhead-sized amount within 36 to 72 hours. No known antidote.
The number of members or sympathizers of the Islamist cause in 2021 fell by 1.5% to 28,290, citing the “military collapse” of the militant group Islamic State, according to Germany’s national intelligence agency. .
On December 19, 2016, Tunisian exile Anis Amurri with Islamist ties rammed his truck into a crowded Christmas market in west Berlin, killing 11 people and injuring dozens.
It comes a month after German authorities arrested 25 members and sympathizers of far-right groups plotting to overthrow the state.
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