Alert on Paraguayan Border: Possible Explosive Cargo for Argentina Attack Investigated
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A few days ago, the Argentine embassy in the United Kingdom received an email alerting about a transport of explosives that originated in Encarnación, Paraguay, and would have as its destination a target in the Jewish community in the country.
Police sources confirmed that an Interpol alert has been issued, that the source of the alert has been investigated, and that no material has yet been found, nor has the shipment in question.
The media found that Facebook accounts were investigated and no terrorism-related content was found. “The denunciation is anonymous: there is a Lebanese alleged perpetrator, but when detectives investigated him they found nothing incriminating,” they disclosed.
Sources close to the investigation detailed that the message, received on Friday morning, alerted to an attempt to smuggle ammonium nitrate -a component used in the manufacture of explosives- into Argentina by a person from the neighboring country.
Jorge Knoblovits, president of the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations, said: “The DAIA is on the issue since the first minute. We are in contact with the Ministry of Security, with Minister Sabina Frederic. The advance alerts are in place and so are the safety measures”.
“The truck has not been detected and one of the tasks the authorities are conducting is to check the existence of the truck by means of a nationwide search”, added Knoblovits. It is believed that the shipment from Paraguay was bound for Posadas, in the province of Misiones.
The staff of the Anti-Terrorist Investigation Unit of the Argentine Federal Police (PFA) conferred with the judge and decided to bring the matter to the attention of the four federal police and security forces, the General Directorate of Customs and the National Directorate of Migration, attentive to the potential attempt by the individual concerned to enter the country.
In Encarnación, a town in the department of Itapúa, the Paraguayan police confiscated a load of dynamite a few days ago. The local news reported that the seizure took place on Thursday morning in the town of Coronel Bogado.
Agents of the National Police Anti-Kidnapping Department stopped a bus that was traveling from Asunción to María Auxiliadora, a town located opposite El Alcázar, in the province of Misiones.
The dynamite was divided into 12 cartridges of one and a half kilograms each. It is believed that, if exploded, the blast wave would reach a radius of between 400 to 500 meters.
Nimio Cardozo, head of the aforementioned department, declared that this type of explosive “is best camouflaged in public transport. It was in a big bag, it’s a big package. It is dangerous”.
He detailed: “We have been conducting intelligence efforts in Itapúa for quite some time due to kidnappings and incidents in the penitentiary. Recently, it was reported that one of the criminal organizations intended to buy dynamite to vandalize the penitentiary. One of the assumptions is that it was headed for the Cereso de Encarnación penitentiary”.
So far, those responsible for the bag containing the explosives have not been identified. Cardozo completed: “The bus, the passenger list and the code placed in the bags are being checked”.
Source: infobae
Key Facts
— Deep Dive
— For the complete picture, read our in-depth guide: Paraguay: Washington's Most Valued Ally in Latin America
More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
In depth
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error