Explosives stolen from French military site
Print Edition
French authorities are investigating the theft of roughly 200 detonators plus grenades and plastic explosives from a military site in southeastern France, officials said yesterday.
The thefts at the Miramas site, operated by a combination of military services west of Marseille, apparently happened overnight from Sunday to Monday.
The break-in comes as France has strengthened its security measures after two deadly attacks by extremists this year.
Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said an investigation has started on charges of “theft with break-in carried out by a criminal group” and “fraudulent entry into a military compound.”
An official with the gendarmerie police force, which generally runs law enforcement in rural areas of France, said the thief or thieves appeared to have cut through a fence to enter the high-security site. The official was not authorized to speak publicly because the operation is ongoing.
Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said he has ordered an investigation into how the break-in was organized and who might be responsible. He also instructed a new office in charge of protecting such sites to review the security for all French military weapons stocks and propose “corrective measures” within 15 days.
Mayor Frederic Vigouroux of Miramas said it was the first theft at the site. Nine storehouses were affected, he said.
“It wasn’t cotton candy that was stolen,” he said. “These are dangerous munitions.”
Colonel Gilles Jaron, a spokesman for the French military, said that about 160 civilians and soldiers work on the site daily, and guards with sniffer dogs patrol behind two fences separated by a “no-man’s-land.” He said the explosives are not specialty munitions and relatively easy to use — destined for use by many types of military personnel.
France has been on its highest level of alert for terrorism following deadly attacks in January and June.
The 200-hectare base sits on the outskirts of the town of 30,000 and stocks munitions like those used in French military operations in Mali and Afghanistan.
This is not the first time that a large quantity of explosives has been stolen in France. In July 2008, thieves took 28 kilograms of explosives from a bomb disposal unit outside Lyon.
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