Slovak authorities apologise as hidden explosives enter Dublin
Related »
CONOR LALLY Crime Correspondent
THE SLOVAKIAN government has apologised to Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern after a passenger carried enough explosives to make two hand grenades on to a flight to Dublin as part of a security test at a small Slovakian airport that went wrong.
The Irish authorities were not notified until yesterday, some four days after the incident.
Slovakian interior minister Robert Kalinak yesterday spoke to Mr Ahern by phone. He apologised and said his government would fully co-operate with any Irish investigation.
The 96 grammes of high-grade plastic explosives was one of eight batches concealed by the Slovakian security services in the luggage of passengers departing Poprad-Tatry airport in eastern Slovakia on Saturday.
The consignments were hidden without the passengers knowing to test security. Seven of the consignments were found by sniffer dogs. However, the explosives placed in the bag of a man travelling on the 11am flight to Dublin with Danube Wings went undetected.
The 49-year-old Slovakian electrician flew to Dublin, where he has lived and worked for three years, and went to his apartment on Dorset Street in the north inner city. He unpacked, but did not find the mobile-phone-sized explosives.
The alarm was only raised yesterday morning when the Slovakian security services contacted the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and airport police.
Gardaà were contacted and used the passengers’ flight details to establish his address. Raiding the apartment, they found the explosives and arrested the man.
The busy roads around the apartment were sealed off for an hour, and nearby apartments and business premises were evacuated. The area was declared safe by gardaà and the Army’s bomb disposal experts at 12.05pm. The explosives are stable at room temperature but volatile when stored below minus four degrees. The quantity exceeded the 80 grammes carried by a man who tried to blow up a plane to Detroit last month.
A Garda report into the incident is being compiled for Mr Ahern, at his request. The arrested man was held at Mountjoy Garda station under Section 30 of the Offences against the State Act. He was released after a short period.
The Irish Times understands he was contacted by the Slovakian authorities on his mobile phone yesterday morning and told explosives were in his bag. Gardaà raided his flat shortly afterwards.
DAA said there had been no breach of security in Dublin airport because security checks at all international airports were conducted on departing passengers only.
Related »
CONOR LALLY Crime Correspondent
THE SLOVAKIAN government has apologised to Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern after a passenger carried enough explosives to make two hand grenades on to a flight to Dublin as part of a security test at a small Slovakian airport that went wrong.
The Irish authorities were not notified until yesterday, some four days after the incident.
Slovakian interior minister Robert Kalinak yesterday spoke to Mr Ahern by phone. He apologised and said his government would fully co-operate with any Irish investigation.
The 96 grammes of high-grade plastic explosives was one of eight batches concealed by the Slovakian security services in the luggage of passengers departing Poprad-Tatry airport in eastern Slovakia on Saturday.
The consignments were hidden without the passengers knowing to test security. Seven of the consignments were found by sniffer dogs. However, the explosives placed in the bag of a man travelling on the 11am flight to Dublin with Danube Wings went undetected.
The 49-year-old Slovakian electrician flew to Dublin, where he has lived and worked for three years, and went to his apartment on Dorset Street in the north inner city. He unpacked, but did not find the mobile-phone-sized explosives.
The alarm was only raised yesterday morning when the Slovakian security services contacted the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and airport police.
Gardaà were contacted and used the passengers’ flight details to establish his address. Raiding the apartment, they found the explosives and arrested the man.
The busy roads around the apartment were sealed off for an hour, and nearby apartments and business premises were evacuated. The area was declared safe by gardaà and the Army’s bomb disposal experts at 12.05pm. The explosives are stable at room temperature but volatile when stored below minus four degrees. The quantity exceeded the 80 grammes carried by a man who tried to blow up a plane to Detroit last month.
A Garda report into the incident is being compiled for Mr Ahern, at his request. The arrested man was held at Mountjoy Garda station under Section 30 of the Offences against the State Act. He was released after a short period.
The Irish Times understands he was contacted by the Slovakian authorities on his mobile phone yesterday morning and told explosives were in his bag. Gardaà raided his flat shortly afterwards.
DAA said there had been no breach of security in Dublin airport because security checks at all international airports were conducted on departing passengers only.