Munich, Thursday
POLICE have smashed a ring suspected of trying to smuggle large
amounts of uranium into the Yugoslav war zone and 30 tanks believed to
come from ex-Soviet republics, investigators said today.
Munich public prosecutor Heinz Stocker said seven Germans, eight
Croatians including a Roman Catholic priest, two Austrians and a Swiss
were under investigation. Seven of them had been arrested.
Stocker said documents and other evidence seized in raids on 33
residences in Germany, Switzerland and Austria yesterday indicated that
highly radioactive uranium 235 and 30 tanks had been smuggled into the
region for sale.
Investigators did not find any uranium 235, which is an ingredient in
atomic bombs, Stocker told reporters. He did not say if tanks had been
discovered.
The presence of Croatians in the ring, however, indicated the
contraband was destined for the war-torn Balkans, he said.
Stocker said the 18 were being investigated for offences against
weapons export laws and for money laundering. ''But the smuggling ring
may be considerably bigger,'' he said.
The case had nothing to do with the seizure earlier this month of two
kilos of uranium, possibly weapons-grade, and other radioactive
materials in raids across Germany. Ten people were arrested, including
two Poles and two Czechoslovaks.
Smuggling in nuclear materials obtained in black markets or stolen in
former Soviet bloc states has spread rapidly as a result of economic
decay in eastern Europe brought about by the 1989-90 end of communist
rule.
Western security officials fear dangerous nuclear materials falling
into the hands of terrorists or armies in unstable regions like former
Yugoslavia.
About 1.2 kilograms of atomic contraband from the chaotic former
Soviet Union were confiscated in Germany, the major transit point
straddling east and western Europe, in the first half of 1992,
authorities say.
Munich investigators said today that ''kilograms of uranium are
drifting around'' on black markets in Germany and neighbouring countries
at the moment.--Reuter.
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