Explosive mail: suspect in custody – Germany

After three attacks with explosive mail on food companies in the German federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, a 66-year-old suspect is in custody.  The  Heidelberg public prosecutor and the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police Office announced this on Saturday.  The  authorities reported that the arrest of the man had already been ordered on Friday evening.

Special police forces arrested the pensioner at his place of residence, it said.  The  man from the Ulm area, who was previously unknown to the police, did not resist the arrest.

Initially, the suspect did not provide any information about the allegations made against him. In particular, the investigations into the shipping route and the type of explosives packages had brought the special commission on Friday on the track of the man, it said in the message.

In the past few days, mail had exploded in the Wild factories in Eppelheim (Rhein-Neckar district) and at the headquarters of the Lidl supermarket chain in Neckarsulm (Heilbronn district). To this end, the police in Bavaria last intercepted an explosive mail that was addressed to the baby food manufacturer Hipp.  The  investigations after the explosions were carried out with great personnel expenditure. 100 officers investigated the cases. (apa)