ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Dec 24, 2005 — Authorities arrested four men and were searching for one more person in connection with the theft of 400 pounds of explosives enough to flatten a large building from a storage depot.
All of the explosives and detonating materials were recovered, and there was no evidence to suggest the theft was connected to terrorism, said Wayne Dixie of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Two brothers, Leslie Brown, 44, of Ignacio, Colo., and David Brown, 49, of Bloomfield, face federal charges that include possession of stolen explosives and felons in possession of explosives, Dixie said.
Authorities gave few other details, including the names of the other two people arrested Friday. A tip led to the arrests.
"Investigators are still interviewing these people that are involved so we don't have all the answers yet," Dixie said.
The explosives were reported missing Sunday from Cherry Engineering's storage depot eight miles southwest of Albuquerque. Federal authorities said the explosives are enough to flatten a large building.
Stolen were 150 pounds of C-4, 250 pounds of sheet explosives, 20,000 feet of detonator cord and 2,500 blasting caps.
The explosives were intact and it did not appear that anyone had tried to use the material, authorities said. Authorities said the brothers did not have experience to use the explosives.
Investigators said they were continuing a search of a storage facility south of Bloomfield, where most of the explosives were found. Some of the material also was found in Ignacio and another location in Bloomfield.
Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White said there was a "collective sigh of relief" when authorities were notified that the explosives had been located.
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