Two Polish men arrested after cyanide container found

Photo: Privat / Politiet / NTB scanpix

Two Polish men were arrested on Friday night, suspected of being behind the theft of a van containing cyanide,from Lørenskog station on the 20th of February.

The two men were arrested after a dramatic police chase in Gjerdrum in Akershus on Friday night.

The police force stopped an Audi for a routine check at 18.30 on Friday night.

“We signalled the car.Then it stopped, but as soon as the police got out of the police car,the Audi backed into the police car and drove off” said operations manager,Terje Marstad, of the Eastern police district to NTB news.

Tips led the police to Kjærstad in Gjerdrum.There, they found the car left behind,but police dogs discovered two people hiding in a nearby dairy
cellar.One person was bitten by a police dog,but was not seriously injured.

Several patrols and helicopters were used during the hunt for the car.

Very gratifying

In the car,the police found several boxes of drugs,including a container of cyanide and a shipping note to the University of Oslo.The police have confirmed that the cyanide is identical to the cyanide which was reported stolen in connection with the theft of a Mercedes Sprinter van from Lørenskog station on the 20th of February.

“It is very gratifying that the cyanide has now been recovered.This is a potentially very harmful substance and we had put a high priority on finding it” said police lawyer, Camilla Granstrøm, of the Eastern police district.

Cyanide container intact when found

“The stolen van is still not found” said Granstrøm at a press conference on Saturday afternoon.

The men are now formally charged with theft and will be presented for detention on Monday.The two Polish men are 33 and 52 years old, and both
are known by the police from earlier interaction.

They will be questioned during the weekend police said.In addition, the police will do technical investigations of the car where the cyanide container and drugs were found.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today