Germany thwarted biological attack: police

Suspect was found in possession of deadly poison and bomb-making materials.

German police officers on the scene of the arrest in Cologne on June 12, 2018 | David Young/AFP via Getty Images

German authorities confirmed Wednesday that a man arrested last week for possession of toxic substances intended to produce a biological weapon and was plotting an attack.

The suspect, a 29-year-old man of Tunisian origin arrested in Cologne last Tuesday, was found to be in possession of a deadly poison known as ricin as well as other bomb-making materials, the national police chief said Wednesday.

“Very concrete preparations had been made for an act with a … biological bomb, which is a first for Germany,” Holger Münch, head of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), told German radio.

Instructions for producing the poison are available online, including from “Islamist organizations,” Münch said, adding that it was clear the suspect “drew” on these.

“The big planned attack, as we have seen in Paris and Brussels, we think that is not completely unlikely, but less likely, because the so-called Islamic State is already very weakened,” Münch said.

BKA currently classifies 770 people in Germany as potential security risks.

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