350 kilograms of explosives precursors seized in a block of flats
The Spanish Civil Guard, within the framework of an investigation carried out into the illegal sale of explosives precursors, has proceeded in Reus (Tarragona) to seize 350 kilograms of Potassium Chlorate, a restricted explosives precursor whose owner had put up for sale in a way illegal on an online platform.
The seller had the aforementioned precursor substances stored, in 7 drums of 50 kilograms each, in the community garage of the block of flats where he resided, generating a considerable risk for his neighbors as the place lacked any type of security measure.
The precursor substance seized came from an old primer manufacturing company that had closed several years ago.
The investigation began last September when officers from the Civil Guard Information Office detected the attempt to illegally sell this product over the Internet.
The trade in explosive precursor chemicals has been restricted and regulated for years both in the European Union and in Spain, to prevent its diversion to the illegal manufacture of explosives for terrorist or criminal purposes; Therefore, for its possession and legal acquisition in our country, it is necessary to previously have a license granted by the Ministry of the Interior through the Intelligence Center for Counter-Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO), which is the National Contact Point. in the matter of precursors, and with which the Information Office of the Civil Guard works closely in this matter,
Likewise, and within these control tasks in this matter, the Civil Guard Information Service Units throughout this year have carried out 26 inspections of establishments that trade in this type of substances and investigated 24 suspicious transactions of the themselves.
The intervened Potassium Chlorate had a concentration of 99.8%, which implies that its sale and possession is prohibited to individuals, so that it can only be acquired by those professional users who need it to carry out their work or industrial activity. For this reason, the seller has been administratively denounced for a very serious violation of the Precursors Law. This substance is extremely sensitive to any source of ignition, which is why it had to be removed by Technicians in Explosives Deactivation (TEDAX) of the Civil Guard.
This is one of the largest seizures of explosives precursors carried out so far in our country, together with the one carried out in August 2021 in Castilleja de la Cuesta (Seville), where the Information Office of the Civil Guard dismantled a clandestine workshop manufacturing of explosives.
This investigation has been developed by the Information Office (UCE 3) of the Civil Guard together with the Information Group and the Explosives Deactivation Group (GEDEX) of the Tarragona Command.
