Explosive mix-up

A test carried out on 2 January by police to test security procedures at the tiny airport of Poprad-Tatry in north-east Slovakia has led to a diplomatic wobble with the Irish Republic. According to Bratislava daily SME, enterprising officers took the liberty of placing RDX, a plastic explosive, in the luggage of eight unsuspecting passengers in order to test the powers of detection of their sniffer dogs. However, an oversight led to one suitcase still carrying 90g of the explosive to make its way aboard a Dublin bound Danube Wings flight. Alerted on 5 January by the Slovak authorities, Irish police made a swoop on the Dublin apartment of the unknowing bomb carrier, a 49 year old Slovak electrician based in Ireland, not before blocking off two streets and evacuating several houses and offices along the way. It was only after his arrest that the Slovak authorities mentioned their own hand in the business. Following the electrician's release, the Slovak authorities officially apologised to the Irish government, claiming that chiefly to blame were poor communications between Poprad-Tatry and Dublin, adds the Irish Independent.