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Florida's Highway Patrol has placed 24-year-old Marco Antonio Benitez Jr. under arrest after he attempted to sell a potentially radioactive device worth roughly $20,000 on Facebook Marketplace.
The investigation itself began late last month, after the Highway Patrol's Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Intelligence (BCII) was tipped off that Benitez Jr. was selling the device in private on the social media platform, as reported by Fox 13 News.
It is expected that the device, identified as a moisture density gauge by local authorities, is valued between $10,000 and $20,000, and law enforcement believe that Benitez Jr. stole the item before listing it for sale on Facebook.
While moisture density gauges aren't necessarily radioactive by nature – as they are used within civil engineering to quickly measure the density and moisture content of things like soils, aggregates, and asphalt – its internal radiological isotope, Caesium-137 (CS-137), can prove hazardous if the device is damaged or used incorrectly.
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This understandably leads to a considerable health risk due to potential radiation exposure within the body, and only licensed individuals are allowed to handle the device within authorized contexts — making attempts to sell it privately a major concern.
Upon learning about the private sale, investigators pretended that they were interested in buying what Benitez Jr. was selling in an attempt to catch him in person, but he failed to show at the arranged time.
Subsequently, his home was positively scanned for radioactive materials, leading to the acquisition of the moisture density gauge and Benitez Jr.'s arrest on May 28.
Thankfully it remained undamaged and therefore safe for the time being, being now taken into posession for evidence and safekeeping according to authorities.
Following his apprehension by local authorities, Benitez Jr. was charged with grand theft alongside a single count of possession of a controlled radiation device without a licence, with prison time for the former generally expected to be no more than five years, whereas the latter is likely only to incur a fine.
Praising the efforts of investigators, Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) Executive Director Dave Kerner proclaimed:
"The Florida Highway Patrol is home to some of the most sophisticated and technically experienced criminal investigators. Our Radiological and Nuclear Detection State Troopers are a vital component to our public safety mission.
"Their efforts, along with the efforts of the BCII and CIU Troopers," the statement continued, "led to this important arrest and Florida is safer as a result."
