German authorities on Thursday arrested a 35-year-old man suspected of blackmailing the DHL express delivery group by sending parcel bombs, a case that caused a stir almost four years ago.
The alleged blackmailer, who admitted ten extortion attempts, gave himself up to the authorities, said the prosecutor's office and the police in Brandenburg, the region surrounding Berlin where most of the incidents had taken place.
He demanded 10 million euros in bitcoins
No information on his motivations has been revealed.
If an arrest warrant has indeed been issued, the suspect has not been imprisoned at this stage, however, the judge taking into account the fact that he had surrendered himself and "circumstances of a private nature", indicated the Public Prosecutor's Office, without further details.
In December 2017, the suspect sent a package to a pharmacy in Potsdam, demanding to receive 10 million euros in bitcoins from the German express delivery group DHL, failing which he threatened to send more.
The country in turmoil
The discovery of the explosive device in this pharmacy, near a Christmas market, had stirred up the country, awakening fears of an Islamist attack a year after the ram truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market ( 12 dead).
Authorities later announced that the suspected package found was intended to extort funds from DHL, not the Christmas market.
Several parcel bombs attributed to the mysterious blackmailer had been sent, in particular to Brandenburg or Berlin, without causing any injuries.
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