Two weeks ago, Mexican and US border security authorities were spooked when a truck carrying radioactive Cobalt-60 material used in medical procedures was stolen in Tepojaco, Mexico, just north of Mexico City. The truck was transporting the material from Tijuana, which is over 1,400 miles away.
The danger was that Cobalt-60 could be used in a radiological explosive device, sometimes called a “dirty bomb,” which is designed to spread radioactivity across an area by way of a conventional explosion.
At the time of the theft there were many questions being asked. Did the thieves know what they were taking? And if they did, what was their plan?
It could have been criminals looking to resell. But Al Qaeda has had at least one operative arrested on the Mexican border and Hezbollah is known to have a presence in Mexico and other parts of Latin America.
As it turned out, the radioactive Cobalt-60 was found abandoned by authorities in Mexico. It would appear that who ever stole the truck had no idea what they had taken. They most likely exposed themselves to dangerous radiation in the process.
Neverthless, this incident is not one to be forgotten or ignored, as the excellent article linked below explains:
http://www.oodaloop.com/featured/2013/12/11/dirty-bomb-threats-us-radioactive-scares-mexico/