Police arrest man selling semtex

Police in Plzeň have revealed they arrested a man last week on the suspicion he was trying to sell 170 grams of plastic explosive known as semtex. A police spokeswoman made the statement on Monday with elaborating further. The suspect was arrested on November 1 and has been remanded in custody; if found guilty, he faces a sentence of up to five years in prison. The Czech news agency ČTK reported that while 170 grams was not a large amount, it was more than enough to do considerable damage, pointing out that in 1988 400 grams of the explosive was used in the Lockerbie bombing that brought down a Boeing 747: 270 people lost their lives in the tragedy.

Author: Jan Velinger