Uranium at Heathrow: Met police arrest London businessman as 'terror' suspect

London: Anti-terror police of the United Kingdom detained a businessman in connection with the uranium found at the Heathrow airport.

Earlier, police had confirmed the arrest as a component of the continuing investigation into the smuggling of the very hazardous radioactive substance.

Reports say that the 60-year-old man has subsequently been released on bail, the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command reported in a statement.

The Daily Telegraph reported that he was a businessman and a citizen of the United Kingdom.

On January 14, police descended on a residence in Cheshire to apprehend the man and search the building.

He was detained on suspicion of participating in terrorist activities, specifically creating or owning a radioactive device or owning radioactive material with the purpose to use it in a terrorist act or its planning.

Police however, do not feel that there is an urgent threat to the public, and no other dangerous materials were found in the search.

The discovery of what was a very small amount of uranium inside a package at Heathrow Airport is obviously concerning, but it demonstrates the effectiveness of the procedures and checks put in place with our partners to
detect this type of material, said Commander Richard Smith, who heads the elite Met unit.

“Since the beginning of our inquiry, our top objective has been to make sure that there is no associated direct threat to the public. In order to accomplish this, we are investigating every avenue we have, which allowed us to make this arrest over the weekend,” he said.

“To be clear, despite the arrest, this incident still doesn’t seem to be connected to any immediate threat to the public based on what we now know, ” he said.

The uranium was discovered on December 29 at the airport during a routine inspection. It can be used to create a dirty bomb, which consists of both explosive and radioactive components.

When a cargo of scrap metal headed for a UK-based company with an Iranian registration was transported to a freight shed, specialised scanners discovered the potentially fatal uranium there, setting off warnings.

It originated in Pakistan and flew in from Oman with a destination of Iranian nationals in the UK.

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