Dynamite Stolen from Contractor in Iceland

Approximately 300 kilos of dynamite and a considerable amount of cores, detonators and mallets were stolen from the explosions container of the contractor company Háfell in Thormódsdalur valley by lake Hafravatn on the outskirts of Reykjavík last week.
The explosives were recovered during raids in Hafnarfjördur and Kópavogur late on Sunday evening. According to a police statement, a man aged around 30 who has a long criminal history was arrested as part of the investigation, visir.is reports.

“The police believe they have reclaimed all the explosives that were stolen and which have now been placed in a secure location. It is very dangerous for inexperienced people to handle them,” the statement reads.

“The police conducted several raids in their search for the explosives and were assisted by the Special Unit of the National Police Commissioner [a.k.a. the “Viking Squad”],” the statement concludes.

Jóhann Gunnar Stefánsson, Háfell’s managing director, said the explosives were kept in a recognized storage area which was under the supervision of the Administration of Occupational Safety and Health in Iceland, Morgunbladid reports.

“Safety measures and the storage facilities were in order on our behalf and a welder had to be used to get to the explosives, which shows a definite criminal intent,” Stefánsson commented.

There are only two companies in Iceland that import explosives and few contractors use them so the market for them is very small.

“I’m surprised that someone would steal them. There is no use for them other than to cause damage. It is a product one cannot obtain a price for in Iceland,” Stefánsson stated.

The explosives can cause considerable damage. “One can blow up many square meters of rock with it and even several houses,” he said.