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German army officer released after storing weapons, radioactive materials

The officer, whose work entails analysis of explosive devices, was said to have a passion for collecting certain items.

• March 28, 2022
German soldiers
German Soldiers

Prosecutors on Monday said a German army officer arrested for possessing radioactive materials and a collection of weapons has been released.

The man had been in custody since he was detained in October 2021, in a raid in Aldenhoven in the western state of North Rhine Westphalia.

Investigators had discovered a cache of weapons, including firearms, grenades, and mines. They also found radioactive strontium-90 and other substances and chemicals.

News magazine Der Spiegel previously reported that further investigations had not revealed any indications of plans for an attack.

Rather, the officer, who dealt with the analysis of explosive devices in his work, was said to have a passion for collecting certain items.

He had also “largely confessed,” Der Spiegel reported the public prosecutors as saying.

He had taken the radioactive materials “from commercial calibration devices.

The seized weapons mostly came from other collectors, and the chemicals from items thrown away by pharmacies and laboratories.

(dpa/NAN)

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