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Thai Police Seize Smuggled Radioactive Material
Thai police, tipped off by U.S. customs agents, said on Friday they had arrested a Thai national with 66 lb of radioactive caesium-137, possibly intended for use in militant attacks, perhaps in the form of a dirty bomb. Officials said the suspect had confessed to smuggling the cesium, a common radioactive substance, from neighboring Laos. They said it was believed to have originated in Russia.Story from the Guardian, 25 June 2002: A large number of mobile irradiation units, each containing a deadly amount of radioactive dust, are feared missing in the former Soviet Union, according to atomic security experts. The units, built by the Soviet government in the 1970s to stop maize germinating, hold eight to 10 thin tubes of the highly radioactive caesium-137. US officials fear terrorists could create a dirty bomb using a radioactive material such as caesium-137 in combination with conventional explosives. The resulting explosion could cover a large area with radioactive dust and contaminate thousands of people. "It could be deadly if it got into the hands of terrorists. We have heard reports that terrorists were planning attacks on embassies in Thailand," Deputy National Police Chief Sombat Amornvivat told reporters. Narong Penanam, 47, was arrested in a sting operation in a Bangkok hotel parking lot and charged with illegal possession of a radioactive substance, police said. The arrest comes after Cambodia charged a fourth suspected Muslim militant on Thursday and police in Thailand said they were hunting for a man they believe to be the bomb-maker for a cell of Muslim militants plotting attacks on embassies and beach resorts. Another Thai police officer said: "The cesium is normally used in industrial work, but could be used in a dirty bomb." A dirty bomb is essentially made of conventional explosive and salted with radioactive isotopes so as to spew the nuclear material over a wide area and contaminate it. Such bombs are easier to build than nuclear bombs. A U.S. customs official in Bangkok told reporters undercover agents had tipped off U.S. authorities that there would be sales of radioactive material in Thailand to militants. "It is obvious that this person wanted to sell the substance to terrorists for sabotage in Thailand," an embassy translator quoted him as saying. "This substance alone could be combined with other substances to create an explosion and it could spread radioactivity." Police Colonel Chatchai Liamsanguan told Reuters, "U.S. Customs officials have asked the Thai police to investigate possible uranium trading in Thailand. "They were afraid that uranium, which could be used in making nuclear bombs, would be sold to terrorist groups in Iraq or North Korea." Thai police responsible for Friday's sting had expected to find uranium, but found cesium instead. That's two captures of radioactive material in one day. We have been lucky so far, but I'm afraid it's only a matter of time. Posted by: Steve 2003-06-13 |
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