BERLIN, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- A 40-year-old man had collected serious war weapons, including mortar shells and a machine gun, in his private barn and house, the local police department of the northern German city of Flensburg said on Thursday.
The public prosecutor had successfully requested a search warrant for the residential building. During the search, local police were supported by a state bomb disposal team in order to secure the weapons.
Among several weapons and "a fair amount of marijuana," the authorities also found chemicals and materials used to produce ammunition, as well as Nazi flags and several objects from the time of Adolf Hitler's dictatorship in Germany.
The man, who has already been known to the authorities for collecting war weapons and explosives since 2015, is now under investigation for violations of the War Weapons Control Act, the Explosives Act and the Narcotics Act.
According to the police, the defendant's handling and improper storage of the seized objects have posed a "considerable source of danger".
In 2015, when the police first targeted the man, he had claimed to have hoarded the weapons out of a "passion for collection". According to German media reports, the police currently have no indication that the man had any contacts to extreme right-wing organizations.
