ETA Car Found in Huelva contained 115 Kilos of Explosives

The Civil Guard suspects that ETA has formed an infrastructure in the Algarve, Portugal following the discovery of an abandoned car containing 115 kilos of explosives yesterday.

The car was discovered when workers carrying out road repairs near the A-49 noticed how a man got out of a grey Ford Focus Ranchera which had been travelling in the direction of Portugal before stopping at the side of the road and crossed a bridge to go in the opposite direction. Later a second car picked him up and travelled back towards Spain.

The Civil Guard believe this was a shuttle car which acted to avoid both Spanish National Police and the Portuguese border controls which they realised were on high alert. The Civil Guard believe that ETA may have a base in Andalucia as well as the Algarve because this is where the second car appeared to be come from.

Originally the workers near the A-49 believed that the car had just broken down and that somebody had come to pick up the driver.

However, 2 hours later around 11.30am a BMW motorbike arrived and stopped at the abandoned car. One of the riders got off the bike and without removing their helmet, looked inside the car, opened it, removed 2 bags and drove off.

Investigators believe that the bike riders took away just what they could carry which were bags containing documents and pistols, leaving the explosives which they were unable to transport.

Joan Mesquida, Director of the Civil Guard said no hypothesis was being ruled out and that this could be an ETA cell or just a handover of explosives. However, he ruled out that it was a car bomb.

On closer inspection the Civil Guard discovered that the car had been carrying 115 kilos of explosives, 10 timers, 8 detonators and a device to activate bombs from a distance.

They had also discovered a manual on how to make bombs written in Euskera, the Basque language. However, none of the material had been prepared and this is why the Civil Guard believe the car was merely transporting the goods.

The grey Ford Focus Ranchera is believed to have been hired in Portugal. It was removed by crane at around 4pm yesterday afternoon and taken away for investigation by the Civil Guard