Simon Hunter
THE FORMER civil servant arrested this week on suspicion of sending six letter bombs to targets including the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid also had a drone that had been modified to carry a similar explosive device.
The claim about the suspect, named as Pompeyeo González Pascual, 74, was made by sources close to the investigation and reported by Spanish daily El Pais.
Investigators also revealed that the man, who was arrested at his home in Miranda de Ebro, Burgos province earlier this week, was planning on creating devices that were more powerful than those sent to his targets in late November and early December.
Only one of those devices actually ignited on arrival at its destination, causing minor injuries to an employee at the Ukrainian embassy.
González Pascual is suspected of being a radical supporter of Russia in its conflict with Ukraine.
Since his arrest on Wednesday of this week, the suspect has been sent to prison, according to a statement from the National Police.
The police were put on his trail after they established that all of the explosive devices had been sent by the same person, with at least three of the letter bombs coming from Burgos.
The officers then traced the materials used, such as stamps, envelopes and other elements used to create the devices.
Investigators believe that he was acting alone but have not ruled out the involvement of other suspects.
There has so far been no confirmation from the Spanish authorities of a story published earlier this week from the New York Times that suggested a Russian group was involved in the sending of the packages.
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