Nuclear Black Market Seeks ISIS Extremists

CHISINAU, Moldova— Over the pulsating beat at an exclusive nightclub, the arms smuggler made his pitch to a client: 2.5 million euros for enough radioactive cesium to contaminate several city blocks.It was earlier this year, and the two men were plot...
Nuclear Black Market Seeks ISIS Extremists
A police officer walks outside police headquarters in Chisinau, Moldova, on May 28, 2015. AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda
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CHISINAU, Moldova—Over the pulsating beat at an exclusive nightclub, the arms smuggler made his pitch to a client: 2.5 million euros for enough radioactive cesium to contaminate several city blocks.

It was earlier this year, and the two men were plotting their deal at an unlikely spot: the terrace of Cocos Prive, a dance club and sushi bar in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova.

“You can make a dirty bomb, which would be perfect for the Islamic State [ISIS],” the smuggler said. “If you have a connection with them, the business will go smoothly.”

But the smuggler, Valentin Grossu, wasn’t sure the client was for real—and he was right to worry. The client was an informant, and it took some 20 meetings to persuade Grossu that he was an authentic ISIS representative. Eventually, the two men exchanged cash for a sample in a sting operation that landed Grossu in jail.

The previously unpublicized case is one of at least four attempts in five years in which criminal networks with suspected Russian ties sought to sell radioactive material to extremists through Moldova, an investigation by The Associated Press has found. One investigation uncovered an attempt to sell bomb-grade uranium to a real buyer from the Middle East, the first known case of its kind.

In that operation, wiretaps and interviews with investigators show, a middleman for the gang repeatedly ranted with hatred for America as he focused on smuggling the essential material for an atomic bomb and blueprints for a dirty bomb to a Middle Eastern buyer.

A police officer arrests Valentin Grossu during a cesium smuggling sting operation in Chi sinau, Moldova, on Feb. 19, 2015. (Moldova Police via AP)
A police officer arrests Valentin Grossu during a cesium smuggling sting operation in Chi sinau, Moldova, on Feb. 19, 2015. Moldova Police via AP