Mexico City, April 16 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Mexican federal authorities raised the alarm on Wednesday over a stolen container carrying radioactive material from the southern Mexican state of Tabasco. The container was stolen on Saturday and contains radioactive material which – if manipulated or taken out of its container – could be lethal to human beings. The material belonged to a medical laboratory and was stolen by unknown individuals.

Local authorities and neighboring states such as Chiapas, Campeche, Veracruz and Oaxaca are on high alert and searching for the whereabouts of the material.

Last week, in the nearby southern state of Puebla, security forces reported the theft of a truck transporting 20 tons of “highly dangerous, toxic and explosive.”

In July 2014, a pickup truck with radioactive element Iridium 182 had been stolen, but was later located. In April 2013, in the central state of Hidalgo, unidentified men stole a truck that was transporting Cobalt 60, which is also highly radioactive. The vehicle and the Cobalt were found abandoned a few days later.