Reuters AlertNet Lite - Czechs detain three with Semtex at Austrian border

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Czechs detain three with Semtex at Austrian border

06 Nov 2003 12:02:00 GMT

PRAGUE, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Czech police said on Thursday they were holding three men who had attempted to smuggle 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) of the plastic explosive Semtex, a gun and other items into neighbouring Austria.

Experts said the amount of Semtex -- a highly potent Czech-made explosive with a record of being used by guerrilla groups -- was enough to bring down an aircraft.

A police spokeswoman said the group tried to cross the border in a car late on Wednesday evening. All were carrying Czech passports.

"The behaviour of the driver was very unusual during customs clearance and the police then found a gun, the explosive Semtex, a knife and four fuses," she said. The spokeswoman did not further identify the gun.

Semtex was developed for industrial uses but because in its regular form it can pass unnoticed through metal detectors, it became a favourite with guerrilla groups.

The substance is believed to have been used in the 1988 bombing of a PanAm jet over Lockerbie in Scotland that killed 270 people.

In recent years the Czech manufacturers have begun marking Semtex with metal traces to make it more easily detectable.

Large amounts of Semtex were exported to allies of the former Soviet Union, such as Libya, during Communist rule in what was then Czechoslovakia, which ended in 1989.

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Last updated:Wed Jan 3 04:58:05 2007