A Slovak police ‘training exercise’ at Poprad Airport on Saturday, 2 January, led to an innocent man being implicated in explosives smuggling and a security alert in Dublin, Ireland, the Sme.sk news website reported.
Without informing passengers, police put packages containing an explosive, hexogene (RDX), into some items of luggage as they passed through the airport. The intention was apparently to test the ability of police dogs to detect it. However, in at least one case the test failed, and police did not retrieve the explosive. As a result a Slovak man, aged 49, living in Dublin, collected luggage in Dublin still containing the explosive.
On Tuesday, January 5, he was detained by Irish police after 90 grams of explosive were found during a raid on his flat. Several nearby houses and offices were evacuated, and two streets closed in Dublin during the operation. The detainee was released after several hours.
According to the Irish national broadcaster RTÉ, Slovak police had not informed their Irish counterparts about the exercise or the missing explosive before the raid on Tuesday, and had inserted explosive into the luggage of eight people. Slovak police stated that they had inserted explosive into just two suitcases, and had informed their Irish counterparts on Saturday. The Slovak police said they also informed Dublin Airport about the explosive.
On Tuesday, January 5, Slovak Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák met his Irish counterpart Dermot Ahern to explain the incident, and a media conference is due to be held on Wednesday at Poprad Airport, the Sme daily wrote.
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
6. Jan 2010 at 10:00
