Global Security Newswire

Authorities in Moldova have arrested six members of a multinational uranium-trafficking ring, the country's interior ministry announced on Wednesday (see GSN, Aug. 25, 2010).

"We have arrested six persons. Among them are citizens of Moldova, residents of the Dniester region, a Russian subject, and citizens of Arab and African countries," Interior Ministry investigations chief Vitaly Brichak told journalists in remarks carried by ITAR-Tass.

The official said law enforcement authorities had captured a quantity of uranium 235, but he declined to specify the amount seized or its enrichment level. Uranium must be enriched to a uranium 235 concentration of around 90 percent for use in a nuclear bomb, according to previous reports.

"This is the type of uranium that is used to make the so-called 'dirty bombs,'" Brichak said. Radiological dirty bombs employ conventional explosives to disperse radioactive material across a wide area. Though not as deadly as nuclear warheads, such a weapon could still cause widespread physical and environmental harm (see GSN, March 18).

The uranium seizure operation was planned and carried out by German, U.S. and Ukrainian authorities that had collaborated on the matter since March. The United States provided the initial tip on a potential sale of uranium 235 in Moldova, Brichak said.

The arrested men face charges of contraband, use of explosives and possession of radioactive substances, he said (ITAR-Tass, June 30).

Moldovan authorities reported detaining a Russian citizen, four Moldovan citizens and a resident of a Moldovan separatist region. In looking for a buyer, the suspects advertised their uranium as weapon-grade. Officials hinted the substance had originated in Russia, the New York Times reported.

While the accused traffickers believed they were in talks with a buyer from North Africa, the client was in reality an undercover agent, police said. The suspects reportedly were asking for between $29 million and $144 million for each kilogram, according to a law enforcement release.

The suspects allegedly informed Moldavan authorities they could offer an initial quantity of one kilogram; that material was presumably the substance inside a lead container the purported smugglers were said to have been carrying when they were detained, the Associated Press quoted Brichak as saying.

The International Atomic Energy Agency says 25 kilograms is required to fuel a weapon (Andrew Kramer, New York Times, June 29).

Moldova has a history of uranium smuggling. In August 2010, six members of another trafficking ring that included two ex-law enforcement officers were apprehended in the capital city of Chisinau for attempted trafficking of 1.8 kilograms of uranium 238 (ITAR-Tass, June 30).