“They have tried to manufacture napalm, but have not succeeded,” said prosecutor Helena Lundström to the local Ystads Allehanda daily.

In a raid on the men’s homes police also found weapons magazines and thousands of bullets for, among other things, automatic weapons. Furthermore there were stores of nitroglycerine, gun powder, sulphur, fuse wire, detonators, and two complete bombs.

The two men have now been charged with offences ranging from theft, home distilling, aggravated drink driving, and contravention of the law on flammable and explosive materials.

The pair are accused of having broken into a store at the P 7 military area in Revingehed outside of Lund. Aside from a couple of cases of uniforms they stole seven wooden boxes with alunat, which is a core ingredient in napalm.

Each wooden box contained 16 cans of alunat, with one can being sufficient for 75 litres of napalm.

But according to the prosecutor there are other ingredients needed to make napalm and the men had no motive for developing the substance.

“This matter concerns two otherwise well-ordered boys who just have a little additioinal interest in chemical products,” the prosecutor said.

The men admit to having stolen the alunat but deny that they had intended to manufacture napalm.

A third man has been charged and has admitted to handling stolen goods, while a fourth denies any involvement.