Police revealed on Tuesday that just under two weeks ago they uncovered a series of playing cards tainted with radioactive material in Berlin’s Marzahn-Hellersdorf district after a year-long search.

Investigations began a year ago when radioactive material was detected at a waste treatment centre in Rüdersdorf during a routine inspection, reports Spiegel Online

Upon further investigation, the source of the radioactivity turned out to be punched out sections of playing cards in one of the centre’s trucks.

The police deduced that the cards had been used as part of an illegal card game con, where some cards are marked with radiation, only detectable to the one player with a reader strapped to their body who can use the readings to cheat.

On November 16th, the state office of investigation, alongside employees of the radiation monitoring centre and the department of health protection, searched the home and property of a 41-year-old woman, believed to be linked to the scam.

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