Trail of exploded pagers leads to Hungarian company, suspected cover of Israel

This article was last updated on September 19, 2024

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Trail of exploded pagers leads to Hungarian company, suspected cover of Israel

The Hungarian company linked to the sale of explosive pagers to Hezbollah was an Israeli front. The New York Times reports this based on multiple intelligence sources.

On Tuesday around 3:30 p.m., pagers exploded throughout Lebanon, mainly among Hezbollah members. At least twelve people were killed and almost 3,000 injured. Intelligence sources say Israel’s Mossad secret service was behind the deadly attack, although this has not been confirmed by Israel.

Gold Apollo

Shortly after the explosions it became clear that the beepers involved came from Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer. But the owner and founder of that company told journalists yesterday that he knew nothing about it.

He did point to a Hungarian company, BAC Consultancy. Gold Apollo had entered into a licensing agreement for the use of their company name and the production of a pager, the AR924.

Public information requested by NOS shows that BAC Consultancy was registered with the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce on May 19, 2022.

The company’s founders gave up numerous areas of work: from perfume retailing to ceramic tile production. The company also uses a tax code for trading in telecom equipment, such as pagers.

In 2022 and 2023, the company registered a turnover of just over half a million euros. There were almost no personnel costs.

Everything had to resemble an ordinary trading company. Until yesterday, BAC Consultancy had a website, which stated that the company facilitated telecommunications equipment in Asia.

BAC’s head office is located in a business complex in Budapest. There is also a LinkedIn page, complete with regular updates.

Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono is registered as the owner of the company in Hungary. She confirmed to the American news channel NBC News that she had worked with Gold Apollo, but she said she had nothing to do with the exploding pagers.

“I don’t make the pagers. I’m just a middleman. This is not right,” she said on the phone, according to NBC. It is not clear what her role was.

Explosive substance

Yesterday, the Hungarian Ministry of Communications also reported that BAC functioned as an intermediary and that the exploded pagers were not made in Hungary.

“The company has one registered driver at its registered office address, and the devices involved have never been in Hungary,” the ministry emphasized on X.

Bulgaria

In addition to BAC, Israel has set up two more companies to conceal the operation, writes The New York Times.

One of those companies may be based in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. It is not yet known what the role of that company would have been. That company was also registered in the spring of 2022.

The Bulgarian security service DANS and the Ministry of the Interior are investigating the company.

According to The New York Times, the special Hezbollah pagers were equipped with a battery containing the explosive substance PETN. The beeper type contains a rechargeable battery that can last 85 hours, according to the Gold Apollo website. Charging is possible with a USB-C cable.

BAC started supplying the explosive beepers to Hezbollah as early as the summer of 2022. In order not to stand out too much, BAC also accepted other customers who received regular devices, according to the American newspaper.

When Hezbollah leader Nasrallah called for an end to the use of smartphones last February, deliveries to Hezbollah were significantly increased. The call came after Hezbollah received information that the phones may have been hacked by Israeli intelligence services.

“Take it out, bury it, put it in an iron box and put it away,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech. “Do so in the interest of safety and to protect the blood and dignity of people.”

The ‘old-fashioned’ pagers were chosen as an apparently safer alternative. Hezbollah officers must carry the devices with them at all times in order to be quickly ready in the event of war.

Walkie-talkies

Yesterday afternoon, Hezbollah communication equipment, this time walkie-talkies, again exploded throughout Lebanon. At least twenty people were killed and 450 injured. It is still unknown how these walkie-talkies ended up with Hezbollah.

The type of walkie-talkie, the IC-V82, has not been made for ten years, according to the Japanese manufacturer Icom. The company says it cannot determine whether the exploded walkie-talkies are a counterfeit product.

The devices do not have any security features, such as a hologram seal. “It is therefore not possible to confirm whether the product was shipped from our company,” Icom said in a statement declaration.