POLAND: Two men have been arrested in Poland and charged with bomb attacks at Ikea stores in Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Germany

Record ID: 356290

  • Title: POLAND: Two men have been arrested in Poland and charged with bomb attacks at Ikea stores in Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Germany
  • Date: 10th October 2011
  • Summary: WARSAW, POLAND (OCTOBER 9, 2011) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) POLICE SPOKESPERSON MARIUSZ SOKOLOWSKI, SAYING: "The detained men are both 39 years old. One of them, who was the brains behind the operation, has no previous crime record. This man is well educated, he knows four languages, has worked in a number of high positions in corporate networks, in shopping chains.
  • Embargoed: 25th October 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Poland, Poland
  • Country: Poland
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA3PYBYGGRU7I9IJRY64TQU5GS6
  • Story Text: Polish authorities have arrested and charged two suspects over a series of homemade bomb attacks on Ikea furniture stores across five EU states, police said on Sunday (October 9).
    The men, both 39, were arrested over attacks in Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Germany earlier in the year.
    "The detained men are both 39 years old. One of them, who was the brains behind the operation, has no previous crime record. This man is well educated, he knows four languages, has worked on a number of high positions in corporate networks, in shopping chains. Thanks to this, he knew some standard procedures within these networks and it was this that probably made it easier for him to operate. The second man has been arrested before for drug trafficking and this fusion of a criminal mind and intelligence created a giant challenge for the police," said police spokesperson Mariusz Sokolowski.
    "A few hundred officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation took part in the operation. We knew for a few weeks that we may be dealing with the people responsible for attacks in Belgium, Holland, France, Germany and also the Czech Republic, but we needed to detain them in the right moment when they would be in possession of evidence," Sokolowski added.
    The arrested men are suspected of seeking to extort six million euros (8.1 million U.S. dollars) from Ikea.
    Nobody was killed in the attacks, which involved booby-trapped alarm clocks, but two people were injured in Germany.
    "These men tried to do everything to avoid any traces which could lead police to Poland. We didn't have information about any attacks planned here. They always acted outside the borders, when they later contacted the Ikea head office they did it in English," Sokolowski said about the investigation.
    Hundreds of Polish police officers had worked on the investigation along with counterparts in the countries where the attacks occurred.
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