Fake ‘wedding cake’ bomb travelled undetected on cargo plane

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Britain has launched an investigation into how a fake bomb concealed in a wedding cake box was transported undetected on a cargo plane to Turkey earlier this month, police said Wednesday.

A 26-year-old man had been arrested in London on suspicion of a bomb hoax, but was later released on bail, police said. The Department of Transport said it was taking the matter "very seriously".

A Turkish man delivered the package, which had a timer, wires and detonator and was placed inside a wedding cake box, to a UPS office in north London a fortnight ago, media reports said.

After carrying out a search at the suspect's home in north London, police said the incident was not terrorism-related. The man will have to report to police again in May.

A spokesman for UPS said: "Two weeks ago, a suspicious package travelled within the UPS network aboard an all-cargo aircraft from the United Kingdom to Istanbul, Turkey."

The firm said it was co-operating with the Department for Transport's investigation of the incident.

Last October a bomb disguised as an ink cartridge was found on a UPS cargo plane at East Midlands Airport, in central England, which was primed to detonate over the US, police said at the time.

The bomb, and another found in Dubai, contained powerful explosives.