DHL warehouse blaze linked to Russian terrorism

A counter terrorism policing spokesperson confirmed to Motor Transport that its officers were now investigating an incident at “commercial premises” in Midpoint Way, Minworth.

Both DHL Supply Chain and DHL International operate HGVs and warehouse units at this Sutton Coldfield site.

The police spokesperson said: “On Monday, 22 July, a package at the location caught alight.

“It was dealt with by staff and the local fire brigade at the time and there were no reports of any injuries or significant damage caused.

“Due to the circumstances, and the specialist capability and expertise in investigating such matters, the investigation is being led by officers from the Met’s counter terrorism command with support from colleagues from counter terrorism policing West Midlands.”

The spokesperson added: “The investigation remains ongoing and there have been no arrests in our investigation at this time.

“As part of our enquiries, officers are liaising with other European law enforcement partners to identify whether this may or may not be connected to any other similar-type incidents across Europe.”

According to national media reports, the parcel that ignited was believed to have arrived at the DHL warehouse by air and matched a similar incident that occurred in Germany, also in July, where a package caught fire at another DHL facility in Leipzig.

The head of MI5 warned last week that the country should expect to see continued acts of aggression from Russian president Vladimir Putin’s regime, due to the UK’s leading role in supporting Ukraine.

Ken McCallum, director general, said: “The GRU [Russia’s military intelligence service] in particular is on a sustained mission to generate mayhem on British and European streets: we’ve seen arson, sabotage and more.

“Dangerous actions conducted with increasing recklessness.”

A spokeswoman for DHL said: “DHL Express Europe is taking risk mitigation actions to secure its network, staff and assets as well as customer shipments by implementing strengthened security measures across the European countries as a reaction to ongoing investigations by authorities from several countries.”