Spain arrests 4 accused of shipping possible precursors for chemical weapons to Russia, breaching sanctions

Madrid — Spanish authorities on Tuesday said they had arrested four people suspected of orchestrating a sanctions-busting commercial network after intercepting more than 14 tons of chemical products bound for Russia.

"During the investigation, it was proven that internationally sanctioned chemicals, some of them possible precursors for chemical weapons or nerve agents, had been exported in the past using this company structure," Spain's national police force and its tax authority said in a joint statement, according to the Reuters news agency. The agencies did not say what chemicals had been seized.

The chemicals were discovered in a shipping container at the port in Barcelona, on Spain's northeast coast, the authorities said, while the suspects were taken into custody in three villages near the city. A video posted on the National Police's social media account showed officers unloading dozens of drums of unidentified chemicals at the port.