Germany: Suspect package found, linked to extortion case
German authorities have found what appears to be powder from fireworks and a fuse in a package sent to a bank in Berlin. They say there’s a link to an extortion plot uncovered before Christmas.
The package was delivered Friday. An employee who opened the package saw wires in it and alerted police.
The German news agency dpa reported that Berlin police spokesman Thomas Neuendorf said it contained “pyrotechnic material” that could have exploded.
In early December, officials said a package delivered to a pharmacy in Potsdam with a crude device made of wires, batteries and nails was part of a conspiracy to extort millions from delivery company DHL Express.
Berlin police wrote on Twitter there’s a link between that case and Friday’s package, not delivered by DHL, but gave no details. After Zeman entered a polling station in Prague, he was approached by a female Femen activist stripped to the waist who shouted “Zeman, Putin’s slut!” His guards intervened and led the shaken president away. Zeman returned several minutes later to vote and said he was honored to be heckled by a Femen activist.
Zeman was elected to the largely ceremonial post in 2013 during the country’s first direct presidential vote, a victory that returned the former left-leaning prime minister to power.