400 Pounds Of Explosives Stolen From Trailer
Eight Bags Of Ammonium Nitrate Taken From Trailer At Rock Quarry
POSTED: 6:10 a.m. MDT July 15, 2003
UPDATED: 2:56 p.m. MDT July 15, 2003
Federal agents have joined local police in the search for 400 pounds of explosives, reported missing from a rock quarry in Colorado Springs.
Workers at Castle Concrete on Monday discovered eight 50-pound bags of ammonium nitrate explosive missing from a locked storage trailer, Colorado Springs police said.
The ammonium nitrate with fuel oil added (ANFO) is commonly used for blasting purposes and is the same kind of explosive used to blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, officials said. The government estimated that about 4,800 pounds of ammonium nitrate fertilizer was used to make that bomb.
"This is a little under one-tenth of that amount," Colorado Springs Police spokesman Skip Arms said.
"The missing material is not suitable for fertilizer."
Officials said the amount of ANFO stolen -- when combined with other ingredients -- could destroy a two- or three-story parking garage.
Officers from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Colorado Springs Police Explosives Unit are investigating and sharing their information with the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
"We don't have any active suspects at this time," Arms said.
Officials said although they have no information that leads them to suspect the theft involves terrorists, they are nevertheless concerned about the damage that a person could inflict with that much amount of blasting material.
The ammonium nitrate is stored in big brown paper bags with orange and black lettering. ANFO has a distinct diesel fuel smell and is described as small granules that are white with a pinkish tint.
Police said the explosive is safe to transport in its current form but can be volatile if compressed or crushed into a fine powder.
The bags were taken sometime between noon Saturday and 6:30 a.m. on Monday, when workers discovered that the Master lock on the trailer had been broken. The Castle Concrete Co. is located at 7250 Allegheny Drive, near Centennial Boulevard.
Castle Concrete mines construction materials at the Pike View Quarry.
The ATF has not heard of similar thefts elsewhere in the country and the theft seems to be the first of its kind in this area, authorities said.
Anyone with knowledge to the whereabouts of the bags is asked to contact the Colorado Springs Police Department at 970-444-7000.
Workers at Castle Concrete on Monday discovered eight 50-pound bags of ammonium nitrate explosive missing from a locked storage trailer, Colorado Springs police said.
The ammonium nitrate with fuel oil added (ANFO) is commonly used for blasting purposes and is the same kind of explosive used to blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, officials said. The government estimated that about 4,800 pounds of ammonium nitrate fertilizer was used to make that bomb.
"This is a little under one-tenth of that amount," Colorado Springs Police spokesman Skip Arms said.
"The missing material is not suitable for fertilizer."
Officials said the amount of ANFO stolen -- when combined with other ingredients -- could destroy a two- or three-story parking garage.
Officers from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Colorado Springs Police Explosives Unit are investigating and sharing their information with the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
"We don't have any active suspects at this time," Arms said.
Officials said although they have no information that leads them to suspect the theft involves terrorists, they are nevertheless concerned about the damage that a person could inflict with that much amount of blasting material.
The ammonium nitrate is stored in big brown paper bags with orange and black lettering. ANFO has a distinct diesel fuel smell and is described as small granules that are white with a pinkish tint.
Police said the explosive is safe to transport in its current form but can be volatile if compressed or crushed into a fine powder.
The bags were taken sometime between noon Saturday and 6:30 a.m. on Monday, when workers discovered that the Master lock on the trailer had been broken. The Castle Concrete Co. is located at 7250 Allegheny Drive, near Centennial Boulevard.
Castle Concrete mines construction materials at the Pike View Quarry.
The ATF has not heard of similar thefts elsewhere in the country and the theft seems to be the first of its kind in this area, authorities said.
Anyone with knowledge to the whereabouts of the bags is asked to contact the Colorado Springs Police Department at 970-444-7000.Copyright 2003 by TheDenverChannel.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
