A man in Finland put 26.5 pounds of dynamite into cars belonging to a friend, later saying he did it as a joke after the friend called police.
The two men live in the small village of Pedersore, which is in the western Finland region of Ostrobothnia, and know each other, police told Finnish broadcaster YLE. Police ruled out any possible terrorist intent but could not specify the origin of the explosives.
The suspect put the dynamite in two cars owned by the friend on Aug. 3 and now faces up to two years in prison. Police questioned him but released him, but they said he remains a suspect.
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The suspect said he had no intention of blowing up the dynamite, according to authorities.
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"According to his own words, he had done it as a joke," said Tony Rauma, detective chief inspector of the Ostrobothnia police.
Police evacuated nearby buildings, Sky News reported.
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"In addition to the dynamite, detonators were also confiscated from the cars," Rauma said.
A Finnish man in 2021 also obtained dynamite, but he wanted to blow up his Tesla after learning it would cost him 20,000 euros (around $22,000) to replace the battery. He decided to destroy the car rather than pay the fee, Electrek reported at the time.
The Tesla owner, Tuomas Katainen, had obtained the dynamite by reaching out to YouTuber Pommijätkät, who blows things up for online content. The duo strapped 66 pounds of dynamite to the car.
