After days of a nationwide manhunt, German law enforcement has taken into custody a 48-year-old man suspected of orchestrating a coordinated series of sabotage attacks targeting the country’s critical electricity infrastructure. Cologne police confirmed the suspect was apprehended on Tuesday in the vicinity of the Weisweiler power plant in western Germany, where he was found in possession of explosive materials at the time of arrest.
Investigators later discovered a secondary cache of explosives that had been rigged in a tent hidden in nearby undergrowth, adding to the scale of the potential threat the suspect posed. Bomb disposal specialists have been deployed to examine all recovered explosive devices, while search teams continue to sweep the surrounding area to rule out any unaccounted-for explosive devices that may have been placed ahead of the arrest.
Identified by German media outlets as Daniel V. – in line with the country’s strict privacy regulations that prohibit publishing full surnames of criminal suspects – the man is believed to have sent multiple handwritten letters claiming responsibility for the sabotage campaign, which spanned three German states: Brandenburg and Saxony in the east, and North Rhine-Westphalia in the west. Major German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung confirmed it received two of the confession letters, which contained non-public details about the attacks only the perpetrator would know, and were signed with the suspect’s first name and listed a residential address in Gevelsberg.
The pattern of attacks that unfolded over the past week has followed a consistent, damaging blueprint: attackers used rockets to launch conductive wires across high-voltage transmission cables, triggering intentional short circuits that forced multiple power-generating units at affected plants to be temporarily taken offline. A day before the suspect’s arrest, on Monday afternoon, investigators had already discovered several unexploded launch devices near high-voltage lines outside the Weisweiler facility, alongside a third confession letter linking Daniel V. to the plot.
During the manhunt, police publicly released the suspect’s photo to German media outlets to solicit public tips as they tracked his movements across the country. A search of the suspect’s Gevelsberg apartment conducted prior to his capture had already turned up stockpiles of explosive materials, according to previous police statements.
In Saxony, one of the hardest-hit states, law enforcement found 21 separate explosive devices placed near high-voltage power lines during searches conducted last Friday and Saturday. German Interior Minister Armin Schuster acknowledged that the coordinated campaign came perilously close to causing a widespread regional blackout that would have disrupted critical services and daily life for tens of thousands of residents, though he urged the public and media to avoid drawing premature conclusions about the suspect’s motive or broader connections.
“This case is unusual both in the method of the attacks and the way the suspect has claimed responsibility,” Schuster told reporters. A joint statement released Tuesday by the Cologne Public Prosecutor’s Office and Cologne Police did not share additional details about the suspect’s background, potential motives, or the full scope of attacks he is suspected of carrying out, as the investigation remains ongoing.