"Customs officials in Bulgaria have arrested a driver carrying more than 3.4kg (7.5lb) of a rare metal that can be used in nuclear reactors."

"The extremely pure sample of hafnium was found on a Bulgarian man trying to cross into Romania at Ruse."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4260996.stm

Relevant links that explain why this has caused this much of a fuss (note that this is quite a heavy element, so 3.4 kg is quite small in terms of size):
http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Samples/040.3/index.s12.html
http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Samples/072.2/index.s12.html

If I'm ever arrested, I want it to be for something like this.

> Police believe a trafficking gang was trying to smuggle the metal.

Oh man, I want to get into the element smuggling business. Running ytterbium across the English channel, sneaking antimony past border guards... Exciting!

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L19648825.htm

The Reuters article is pretty confused about matters of isotopes and elements (they confuse the radioactive and non-radioactive isotopes of hafnium), and they also pull in the older hafnium-isomer explosive story. That part is probably completely irrelevant in this context, but it is an interesting story in its own right.

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4049

I haven't heard any further developments on that, like whether anyone's reproduced these supposed gamma-induced decays or not, though. It all seems far-fetched.

>Running ytterbium across the English channel, sneaking antimony past border guards... Exciting!

Don't forget Zeppelins with one single Fluor-filled compartment! They'll never figure out where all the excess teflon ingredients are coming from, MUHAHAHAHAHA!