Mail bomb found at Rotterdam sorting center; gas station returned it to sender

By Janene Pieters on Monday, 6 January 2020 - 07:59
A mail bomb sent in a string of attempted attacks in 2019 & 2020
On the left, an example of a mail bomb with a CIB return address sent to businesses in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. On the right, an example of authentic piece of mail from CIB. Jan. 3, 2019PolitiePolitie

A mail bomb was intercepted at a post sorting center in Rotterdam on Sunday. The bomb was originally sent to a gas station in the city and the staff returned it to its sender, without knowing the letter contained a bomb, the police said to NU.nl.

The gas station staff only realized this involved a mail bomb after a threatening letter was sent to the gas station. They then notified the police. The mail bomb was missing for a number of days, until it was intercepted at the mail sorting center on Sunday. The building did not have to be evacuated. The Ministry of Defense's explosive clearance service was deployed to disarm the device. 

Last week the police announced that seven mail bombs had been sent to companies in Amsterdam, Utrecht and Rotterdam. The one found on Sunday was one of these seven. None of the bombs exploded. 

The gas station is the third target to be revealed. Previously it was announced that the Amsterdam Okura hotel and the Van Mossel car garage in Rotterdam were also targeted with mail bombs. The rest of the targets were not named, only described in a general sense, for privacy reasons. They include, among others, a real estate agency in Utrecht and an ABN Amro office in Maastricht. 

All targeted companies also received a threatening letter after the mail bomb. The police did not say what these letters contained, in the interest of the investigation. 

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