A Lithuanian criminal involved in sending flammable parcels to the United Kingdom and Germany used a false identity and provided an address where the recipient did not reside, according to information obtained by Lithuanian news portal LRT.lt.
Both parcels were dispatched from Lithuania to the same recipient in the UK. One of the shipments ignited in Leipzig, Germany, just before being loaded onto a cargo aircraft, while the other caught fire in a DHL warehouse in Birmingham, UK.
The shipments were sent on 19 July, with fires breaking out overnight between 20 and 21 July. According to the information available, the recipient did not live at the specified address, and the sender is suspected of having paid for the shipments in cash.
Additionally, LRT’s findings suggest that the same individual sent more parcels, though these were not sent via air mail, indicating no threat to aviation in those instances.
Mindaugas Pivoriūnas, CEO of DHL Lithuania, confirmed in an earlier statement to LRT that two such incidents involving flammable shipments had occurred within the company’s network in July.
It remains unclear how the parcels were engineered to ignite spontaneously. However, prior to dispatching, some AAA alkaline batteries were reportedly removed from the parcels, raising further questions about the mechanisms behind the fires.
Despite the severity of the incidents, Lithuanian authorities have remained silent on the matter, which could potentially be classified as an attempted terrorist act. Nevertheless, Germany’s domestic intelligence chief, Thomas Haldenwang, speaking before a parliamentary committee earlier this week, linked the incident to Russian sabotage efforts across Europe.
Haldenwang emphasised that a larger tragedy had only narrowly been averted. The cargo plane scheduled to carry the shipment container with the ignited parcel was delayed. If the fire had occurred in flight, the consequences could have been catastrophic.
“If it [the parcel] had exploded in the air, the plane would have crashed,” Haldenwang stated.
According to German media outlet Der Spiegel, the individual responsible for sending the explosive parcels has been apprehended in Lithuania, though Lithuanian authorities have not yet commented on the arrest.
When approached by LRT, Elena Martinonienė, head of communications for the Prosecutor General’s Office, stated, “There is currently no new information for public dissemination on the topic.”
Similarly, Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD) offered little insight, explaining that the investigation is being overseen by the Prosecutor General’s Office, which holds discretion over the release of any information. VSD confirmed that it had no additional public comments at this time.
“At present, we do not know who ordered or manufactured the explosive devices,” Der Spiegel reported, adding that the investigation continues in cooperation with international security agencies.
Artūras Urbelis, a prosecutor with the Prosecutor General’s Office, described the investigation as “very serious,” involving matters of national security and international cooperation. “I will not say anything more,” he concluded during a statement on Friday.
Following these incidents, parcel checks across Europe have been heightened, with increased scrutiny of both senders and recipients. Specific, undisclosed security measures have been implemented to prevent similar acts of sabotage in the future.
The incident has sparked concerns about the increasing complexity of security threats facing European aviation and logistics networks. While further details are awaited, the coordinated efforts between Lithuanian and German authorities are expected to play a key role in understanding and addressing the broader implications of these incidents.
Image source: lrt.lt
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