On January 10, 2023, in Castrop-Rauxel, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, special police forces in protective suits perform search operations on homes linked to an Iranian national, one day after the man, 32, and his brother were arrested on suspicion of organizing a poison attack. Bernd Thissen/image coalition/Getty
Berlin — Over the weekend, German counterterrorism police stormed an apartment in the west of the country and arrested an Iranian national and his brother on suspicion of planning an assault motivated by Islamic extremism. The investigation’s principal suspect, a 32-year-old man, is accused of preparing an attack with cyanide and ricin, according to the Düsseldorf General Prosecutor’s Office.
On Sunday, the suspects were hauled into custody. On Monday, it was unknown how far the plan had advanced, whether a specific target had been chosen, or whether the men had already gotten either of the lethal drugs. The prosecutor’s office stated there was no evidence that Iranian government entities were involved in the purported plot.
Ricin is categorized as a “biological weapon” by the Robert Koch Institute, the German government’s national health and disease control organization. Cyanide is also extremely poisonous; even minute amounts can be fatal to humans.
Officials reported on Monday that, following searches of numerous locations related to the inquiry, they discovered an unidentified parcel in a garage, which was to be removed for examination. As a precaution, some homes in the immediate area were evacuated.
Saturday night at midnight, agents searched a property in the city of Castrop-Rauxel, in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. A lot of police, firefighters, and rescue personnel participated, with many wearing biochemical protection suits.
In Castrop-Rauxel, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on January 8, 2023, substances discovered during a search connected to a counterterrorism investigation are examined by the fire department. Christoph Reichwein/image partnership/Getty
In sealed blue barrels, the evidence was extracted and transported to a decontamination station set up at the local fire department.
According to the Düsseldorf Attorney General’s Office, the German Federal Criminal Police Office has been investigating the Iranians for some days. According to reports, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) alerted German authorities to the possibility of a chemical assault.
The attorney general’s office stated that neither cyanide nor ricin were discovered in the 32-year-old man’s apartment.
According to police, task force members were also inspecting two garages that one of the two brothers had rented. The investigation revealed that the primary suspect had two garages in his Castrop-Rauxel backyard, according to the prosecutor general’s office, and members of the fire department’s Analytical Taskforce were dispatched to ensure the safe handling of any potentially hazardous compounds.
After the operation in Castrop-Rauxel, the state interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul, urged German politicians to make better use of intelligence resources, such as internet surveillance capabilities, to uncover and destroy such schemes more swiftly.
Germany has tight data protection and surveillance rules that prohibit domestic authorities from snooping on citizens’ internet activities or monitoring their movements. However, the government responds swiftly to foreign intelligence.
“The important thing is to know early on who is planning something,” Reul stated on an ARD morning show. He stated that he did not see why Germany was ignoring the chances given by contemporary monitoring.
“We are very cautious about this in Germany,” he added, adding that, happily, international collaboration between security agencies was sufficient to foil the purported scheme and apprehend the accused men.
»Germany detains Iranian brothers allegedly involved in a biochemical terror plan«