WE WALK INTO SEMTEX FACTORY

A GAPING hole in security at the world's biggest Semtex factory is today exposed by the Sunday Mirror.

Our investigators were able to walk into top secret production and storage areas unchallenged from a public street.

They could have walked away with dozens of kilos of the terrorists' favourite plastic explosive - used by al-Qaeda fanatics, the IRA and the Lockerbie bombers - without anyone noticing.

The factory - owned by arms company Synthesia - is the world's biggest producer of Semtex and is based in the Czech town of Pardubice.

The lapse in security will shock NATO chiefs who have ordered a clampdown ahead of Wednesday's summit of 46 world leaders, just 50 miles away in the capital Prague.

Such is the concern about a terror attack on the 19 alliance heads of state, including George Bush, Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin, that the Americans have taken charge of security. The country has been put on official red alert.

Fifteen F15 and F16 jet fighters will patrol the skies day and night for fear of an air attack.

On the ground US secret servicemen and troops will be out in force, closing off the city to potential suicide bombers and shutting down the tube system for fear of a chemical or biological weapons attack.

But Sunday Mirror reporters got into the factory four times in four days without any specialist knowledge or equipment.

They were able to roam around sensitive areas - including bomb- proof detonating sheds where Semtex is test- exploded and stored - within minutes.

At the factory gates a helpful worker pointed out the specific building where Semtex is made - a football-pitch sized unit with two 100ft high chimney stacks.

Our man walked through an unmanned security cordon at 8.10am as workers arrived to begin their shifts.

He penetrated 500 yards into the complex and spent 15 minutes looking around before coming out the same way.

Then it was over to the underground storage bunkers.

A watchtower overlooking a rusty gate was empty.

Our man was able to stand within yards of the detonating sheds while batches of Semtex were exploded for quality control.

The following day our investigator was able to walk through another unmanned gate right up to the unit again and leave without being detected.

The factory is supposedly guarded by a garrison of Czech Army NATO troops, including a special SWAT team, police and private security guards.

Over the summit period the factory has been placed under "special protection orders" and bosses have boasted that it is impossible to get into the factory. But our investigators did not see any patrols, and guard houses were frequently unmanned.

During the third breach our investigator was able to clamber over a broken fence in daylight and walk straight into where Semtex is made, a rabbit-warren of corridors, pipes and giant workshops containing huge steel vats.

One room marked only with a "no entry" sign, contained pallets of phone-book sized reddish plastic material similar in looks and consistency to commercial Semtex.

It is used in quarrying and mining but is as powerful as military Semtex, which is off-white and odourless.

Close by there are rows of padlocked portakabins with explosive warning signs on the doors. After two-and-a-half hours he was able to leave undetected despite walking past workers.

Semtex is routinely stolen from storage depots all over the Czech Republic by workers and army personnel and sold to terrorists groups like the IRA, who like it is because it is undetectable, is as versatile as plasticine and has a shelf life of up to 20 years.

A Semtex haul was recently discovered in an Afghan cave and the explosive was used in the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and the Nairobi US Embassy blast in 1998.

The black market price is up to pounds 1000 per kilo. The legitimate wholesale price is pounds 4 per kilo.

Two army officers were recently caught smuggling 42.5kg out of a military store in Prostejov. And in the beer town of Pilsen a Belgian criminal paid pounds 350 for 1kg.

Another soldier, serving in Croatia, was caught trying to smuggle 35kg into Yugoslavia in the petrol tank of his car.

Under pressure from NATO following the September 11 attacks the Czechs' re-nationalised Synthesia's parent company Explosia to stop the black market trade.

But the government proved how easy it was to steal Semtex by getting special forces to break into depots.

Copyright 2002 MGN LTD
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