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'Agent held' as explosives found Explosives 'airport alert test'
(about 1 hour later)
Irish broadcaster RTE has reported that a man has been arrested after explosives were brought into Ireland in a security exercise by another country. Irish police have released a man held over an explosives find, after Slovakian authorities admitted planting them in his luggage.
A 49-year-old man was detained following the discovery of explosive material in a Dublin city centre flat. The explosive was one of eight pieces of contraband placed with unsuspecting passengers at Bratislava Airport last weekend, broadcaster RTE reported.
RTE have said Irish police got a call from a foreign security service on Tuesday morning telling them the man had 100g of commercial explosives. The 49-year-old unwittingly brought the material into Dublin when he returned from his Christmas holidays.
Some homes and businesses in the area were evacuated for a time. He was arrested on Tuesday morning but has since been released without charge.
RTE said the incident was a "test exercise" which appears to have gone wrong. Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said he was very concerned that Irish police had not been alerted for three days.
The man being held is understood to be from Slovakia but it is not yet clear how he entered the country. Airport security detected seven of the illicit items, but the eighth - 90g of research development explosive - managed to escape detection.
Slovakian police alerted their Irish counterparts on Tuesday morning, and the man's flat near the city centre was cordoned off while bomb disposal experts removed the explosives for further examination.