When the officers appear to search the apartment, they have no idea what they have found. A little later, the Aachen police discovered explosives in a box and arrested a man and a woman. It is unclear: who are the two and how did the substance get into the apartment?
Aachen (dpa / lnw) - The police had actually arrived on suspicion of forced prostitution: During a search of an apartment in Aachen, emergency services accidentally came across highly explosive explosives. A man and a woman who were arrested on the spot were taken into custody, a spokeswoman for the Aachen public prosecutor said on Sunday.
The substance discovered in a box was TATP, the police said on Saturday. The substance is often used by ATM blowers, a spokesman said. "Now investigations are going in all directions." The arrested are said to be tenants of the apartment. The investigators initially did not provide any further information on the identity of the two.
The explosives and cash were discovered during a search on Friday afternoon. The action by the criminal police was actually about an investigation into suspected forced prostitution, the spokesman said.
After the find, it was initially unclear whether it was drugs or explosives. Specialists from the State Criminal Police Office that were consulted finally identified the substance as TATP. "The substance is highly explosive and has tremendous force," said the police spokesman. It was therefore decided to blast the substance on site in a temporary pit in a controlled manner with the help of a robot.
Forces cordoned off the area. More than 30 people were evacuated from the affected house and neighboring buildings for the blast on Friday evening and taken to the Tivoli Stadium in Aachen by bus. The force of the detonation shattered windows on a house and stones flew into a hallway. All residents could have returned to their apartments later, it said.
It should be determined how those arrested may have got hold of the explosives. There is also no evidence pointing to terrorism, said the police spokesman.
