A 32-year-old Iranian man has been arrested in Germany for allegedly plotting an “Islamist-motivated” attack.
The man had been plotting to use cyanide and ricin to commit a “serious act of violence”, “North Rhine-Westphalia police said in a statement.
They raided the man’s Castrop-Rauxel residence, in the Ruhr region, where they found the “toxic substances”.
Ricin is a considered a highly toxic biological weapon.
Another person was also arrested and the pair remain in custody.
Germany’s Deutsche-Presse Agence (dpa) reported numerous emergency workers in protective suits attending the scene.
The investigation is ongoing, and it was initially unclear how far the attack plans had progressed.
The charge of a ‘serious act of violence endangering the state’ is punishable with anywhere between six months and ten years in prison.
Germany has been the target of numerous Islamist attacks in recent years. In 2016, a truck attack on Christmas markets in Berlin killed 12 people and left dozens injured.