German Bomb Was Extortion Plot, Police Say -- WSJ
December 04 2017 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By William Wilkes
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (December 4, 2017).
FRANKFURT -- A bomb found in the city of Potsdam on Friday was
accompanied by a note demanding payment of a sum equivalent to
millions of euros from postal company Deutsche Post AG's DHL
courier service, police said, warning they believed the perpetrator
could send further explosive devices.
The bomb, a cylindrical device with batteries, nails and cables,
was discovered in a pharmacy in the center of Potsdam, across the
street from a Christmas market, police said. A bomb disposal squad
destroyed the device with a high-power water jet after evacuating
the market.
Police said people in the pharmacy and market could have been
killed or maimed had the device exploded.
Authorities said they suspect the perpetrator lives in or near
Berlin or Brandenburg state, a police spokesman said without
elaborating. Potsdam, a city of 165,000 people, is the state
capital of Brandenburg and is about 20 miles southwest of
Berlin.
Authorities in Potsdam on Sunday said they found a piece of
paper near the bomb with a quick-response code, a symbol similar to
a bar code, but which stores more data and can be read by a
smartphone camera.
The code contained an extortion demand for a sum equivalent to
millions of euros addressed to DHL, authorities said. The note
demanded an electronic transfer of funds rather than cash, a police
spokesman said. The note didn't demand payment in euros, the
spokesman said. Authorities declined to provide further
details.
A DHL spokesman declined to comment on the bomb.
DHL's parent company, Deutsche Post DHL Group, based in Bonn, is
one of the world's largest postal delivery companies, with a 2016
net profit of EUR2.64 billion ($3.13 billion) on revenues of more
than EUR57 billion euros ($67.62 million) last year. It wasn't
clear why the company's DHL subsidiary was targeted, a police
spokesman said.
Recent ransomware cyberattacks, which make files on victims'
computers unusable until a ransom is paid, have asked for payment
in digital currency bitcoin. Bitcoin allows users to open an
account without identifying themselves, , although some people
using the currency for illegal transactions have been caught.
A police spokesman declined to comment on whether the
perpetrator had asked for payment in bitcoin.
Security services suspect the Potsdam bomb may be linked to a
similar incident in November in Frankfurt Oder, a town of 55,000
people nestled on Germany's border with Poland. That package,
delivered to a small business, exploded, igniting a fire in the
company's postal room, but caused no injuries.
The latest device was mailed from a self-serve machine at an
unmanned package station in Potsdam early Thursday, according to
police. German law limits video surveillance to train stations,
public transport and high-crime areas, and most public streets in
the country have no CCTV cameras.
Further devices could be sent to small businesses, the spokesman
said, although police wouldn't rule out the possibility they would
be sent to individuals. Police in Potsdam urged the public to
remain alert and not open unexpected packages from senders they
don't know.
"The perpetrator takes damage to human life and health as a
given cost," Brandenburg police chief Hans-Jürgen Mörke said
Sunday.
Germany is on high alert for the Christmas season after a truck
rampage killed 12 people at a market in Berlin last year.
Write to William Wilkes at william.wilkes@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 04, 2017 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Deutsche Post (PK) (USOTC:DPSGY)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2024 to Jun 2024
Deutsche Post (PK) (USOTC:DPSGY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2023 to Jun 2024