Police in the eastern German city of Dresden announced Tuesday that they had arrested two men the previous evening after finding 17 smuggled hand grenades in their car.

The vehicle had been parked in the parking lot of the city's main train station, raising the officers' suspicion, a police spokesperson said.

The officers gave the car an initial search and then used a sniffer dog, which alerted the officers to the live ammunition that had been hidden in the paneling.

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The two men of Bosnian nationality were suspected of having entered the country illegally.

The reason for their possession of the hand grenades remains unclear. The spokesperson said that an investigation was ongoing.

cmb/rt (AFP/dpa)

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