German Undercover Police Are Offered Plutonium
MUNICH, Germany — German undercover police have been offered illegal plutonium in what could be the fifth case of nuclear smuggling in as many months, Bavarian authorities said Tuesday.
A state Interior Ministry spokeswoman in Bavaria, where police seized illegal plutonium at the Munich airport last month, declined to give details of the latest case.
She told reporters only that police posing as buyers were offered plutonium last week. She did not say where the offer was made or how much nuclear contraband was involved.
On Aug. 10, Bavarian police seized 10.6 ounces of plutonium-239 that could be used for bomb-making.
Two Spaniards and a Colombian were held as suspected couriers.
It was the biggest of four seizures since May of plutonium and uranium, which Bonn officials say may have come from nuclear sites in Russia or other parts of the former Soviet Union.
Moscow has said the source of the deadly contraband remains to be established. The two countries signed an agreement last month to swap intelligence and coordinate police action against black-market nuclear trading.
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