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London’s Heathrow airport is on high alert following the discovery of an unidentified package containing uranium. Read to know more about its origin.
Unaddressed package with uranium at Heathrow airport
An investigation is ongoing after a package with uranium was discovered at Heathrow airport in London. However, as per a Daily Mail report, the uranium was not weapon-grade. Hence, it cannot be used for manufacturing thermo-nuclear weapons. However, the package arrived from Pakistan and may have had the intention of making a dirty bomb. Media reports reveal it arrived in an Oman Air passenger jet from Muscat. Following its discovery during a routine search on December 29, a security alert was triggered.
The inquiry is also questioning if the dangerous chemical was a consequence of “poor handling” in Pakistan. “We can confirm officers from the Met’s counter-terrorism command were contacted by Border Force colleagues at Heathrow. This is after a very small amount of contaminated material. It was identified after routine screening within a package incoming to the UK on 29 December 2022,” stated the Metropolitan Police.
More on the unaddressed package
At present authorities have not made any arrests. Additionally, it is unknown who the package was intended for. However, a Daily Mail report is claiming it was addressed to a UK-based firm holding ties with an Iranian. Earlier, in 2003, Eliza Manningham-Buller warned it could be “only a matter of time” before a chemical attack or dirty bomb was launched in London. Buller was the then-head of the MI5.
As per Commander Richard Smith, the investigation is ongoing and reveals the Uranium contaminated scrap metal “does not appear to be linked to any direct threat”. Commander Smith works for the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command. “As the public would expect, we will continue to follow up on all available lines of inquiry to ensure this is the case,” he stated. Additionally, “I want to reassure the public that the amount of contaminated material was extremely small and has been assessed by experts as posing no threat to the public,” added Smith.