A 32yearold Iranian suspected of planning an “Islamic” attack using cyanide and ricin has been arrested in West Germany, police and the public prosecutor’s office said on Sunday.
During a search of his apartment in CastropRauxel (North RhineWestphalia), officials found “poisonous substances” that were intended for an attack, according to the public prosecutor’s office and the Münster police.
The detainee is “suspected of preparing a serious act of violence that threatens the security of the state by obtaining cyanide and ricin to carry out an Islamicstyle attack,” the investigators said.
The suspect must be brought before an investigating judge in the next few days, who will decide on the order for preventive detention, the public prosecutor said.
Another person was also arrested and remanded in custody, investigators added.
According to the Bild newspaper, a few days ago German authorities received information from a foreign secret service about an impending “chemical bomb” attack.
Germany has been rocked by several terrorist attacks in recent years, including a mass attack on a Christmas market in December 2016 that killed 13 people.