Mexico's National Coordination of Civil Protection issued an alert for five states in Mexico on Sunday after it was notified about the theft of a truck carrying potentially dangerous radioactive material, marking the fourth instance of radioactive material theft in Mexico since 2013.
The organization was notified about the theft by San Juan del Rio-based Industrial Maintenance Center, the owners of the radioactive material, which had reportedly gone missing in an undisclosed location, according to AFP.
The missing material in question was identified as irdium-192, which is used in industrial radiography when placed inside the appropriate device. Such devices are used by companies to test oil pipelines, for example, for structural problems.
Iridium-192 can cause burns and permanent injuries who have been in contact with it for up to several hours. It can even lead to death if exposed to the material for long enough, according to Stratfor.
Issuing a statement to the public about the theft, the ministry warned that the material "can be dangerous for people if not handled safely" and could cause "permanent or serious injury to a person who is handling or in contact with it for a short time."
In addition, they placed the states of Queretaro, Hidalgo, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi and Michoacan on alert. Officials advised anyone in those five states in particular, to be on the lookout for the stolen material and if they do, to notify officials immediately. Furthermore, they warned civilians to not go within a 100-foot perimeter of the material to avoid radiation poisoning.
Theft of radioactive material is actually somewhat common in Mexico, and this incident marks the fourth time since 2013 that such a theft has occurred. The last time it happened was in April 2015, when a container carrying the same radioactive material was stolen from a vehicle in the Tabasco state, near the Mexican border with Guatemala, only to be recovered a week later, according to CBS News.
Unlike other a similar incident that occurred in Iraq in November, officials have yet to declare the theft of the material an indicator of a potential terrorist threat, Reuters reported. Rather, they note that in such cases in Mexico, the thieves are mostly interested in other parts of their haul and are apparently unaware of the presence of the radioactive material.
