Tunisian held in Germany over ‘toxic substances’
German police have arrested a Tunisian after finding “toxic substances” at his flat in Cologne, and prosecutors have not ruled out a terrorist act as the motive.
The man and his pregnant wife were detained late on Tuesday night after officers raided their flat and came across “unknown substances” that are now being analysed by specialists, Cologne police said.
“We decided to take very swift action to ward off possible danger,” police spokesman Andre Fassbender told the DPA news agency.
The man, 29, is suspected of “handling toxic substances”, police said. It was not immediately clear if his wife was still in custody yesterday.
The woman is German and recently converted to Islam, German broadcaster NTV reported. The couple’s children have been taken into the care of city authorities.
Federal prosecutors have taken over the investigation. Investigators will now look into whether the two were planning an attack.
Police officers, including special forces, were still combing the couple’s flat on the first floor of a large apartment building yesterday morning. Chemical experts wearing protective gear removed plastic bags from the scene.
Germany remains on high alert for militant attacks after several assaults claimed by ISIS in the country in recent years.
In the worst such attack to date, Tunisian asylum seeker Anis Amri rammed a truck into crowds at a Berlin Christmas market in December 2016, killing 12 people.