Norway Seeks Man Linked to Exploding Hezbollah Pagers with Wanted Notice

Norwegian authorities have issued an international wanted notice for a man in connection with the distribution of exploding electronic devices to the militant Hezbollah group in Lebanon.

Hezbollah recently experienced a series of explosions caused by rigged electronic devices, including thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies, resulting in fatalities and injuries.

Last Friday, Reuters identified the missing man as Rinson Jose, aged 39, who disappeared during a work trip to the United States. He is believed to be the founder of a Bulgarian company connected to the pager supply chain.

“We have issued an international wanted notice on behalf of the Oslo police,” said Åste Dahle Sundet, spokesperson for Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service, as reported by the Associated Press.

In Norway, it is customary not to publicly name individuals, especially during the early stages of legal proceedings.

Pager Distribution to Hezbollah

Norway’s domestic security agency, PST, has launched a preliminary investigation.

“PST has initiated a preliminary investigation to assess whether there are grounds for a full-fledged investigation based on allegations surrounding a Norwegian-owned company’s potential involvement in distributing pagers to Hezbollah,” said Haris Hrenovica, a police attorney at PST, in an email to The Epoch Times.

Jose’s employer, DN Media Group, stated that he left for a conference in Boston on Sept. 17 and has been unreachable since Sept. 18. He was part of the sales department at the company.

The CEO of Jose’s employer informed the AP via email that they have been unable to contact him since hearing about the serious allegations regarding his private activities, which were unknown to the company and unrelated to their operations.

“We have not had any communication with him since last Wednesday, and we are concerned about his whereabouts,” said DN Group CEO Amund Djuve.

Upon reporting Jose missing, his employer informed the Oslo police district, who then issued a missing person warrant to Interpol through Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS). This is standard protocol, according to Norwegian law enforcement sources.

International Investigation

The wanted notice is part of an international investigation aimed at unraveling the events in Lebanon.

On Sept. 17, the Taiwanese pager manufacturer associated with the devices that exploded in Lebanon claimed that they were actually manufactured by a company in Hungary.

The model of pagers used in the explosions in Lebanon was produced by Budapest-based BAC Consulting, according to Gold Apollo, the Taiwanese firm.

Hungary’s Special Service for National Security stated last week that the CEO of BAC Consulting had been questioned multiple times as part of the investigation, but they believe the company was not involved in setting up the devices to explode.

“The investigation has shown that the so-called pagers were never in Hungary and no Hungarian company or expert was involved in their production or modification,” the agency said in an email.

Hezbollah has accused Israel of orchestrating the explosions through electronic devices, although Israeli officials have yet to comment publicly on the matter.

Yossi Kuperwasser, a former military intelligence official and current research director at the Israel Defense and Security Forum, indicated to Reuters last week that there was no confirmation of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad’s involvement in the attack.

Exploited Vulnerability

Initial theories proposed by analysts suggest that threat actors exploited a flaw in the pager batteries or planted and triggered explosive charges within the devices.

It is theorized that threat actors infiltrated the pager supply chain and inserted small amounts of high explosives into the devices before delivery, triggering them with a coded message.

Carlos Perez, director of security intelligence at TrustedSec, suggested, “The battery was likely part explosive and part actual battery.”

Sean Moorhouse, a former British Army officer and explosive ordnance disposal expert, noted, “The size of the detonation seen in the video is consistent with an electric detonator or a small explosive charge concealed within the pager component.”

Referring to a video showcasing the damage caused by a pager explosion, former CIA analyst Mike Dimino of the US-based Defense Priorities think tank commented on social media platform X: “This was a small plastic explosive charge inserted into one of the pager components. The damage could not have been caused by just a battery.”

Ryan Morgan, Reuters and AP contributed to this report.