False alarm prompts brief shutdown of street in German city

BERLIN – German police briefly closed off a portion of a street in a southern city after a suspicious package was sent to a building amid ongoing jitters about a murky plot to extort money from delivery company DHL Express.

Ulm police tweeted Wednesday they’d investigated a suspect package but it turned out to be a normal delivery.

Germany has been on edge after authorities last week said they were investigating a plot to extort money from DHL.

That announcement came after a package sent to a pharmacy in Potsdam containing wires, batteries and nails to resemble a bomb prompted the evacuation of a Christmas market on the same street.

The package contained a link to an online message threatening to send more packages unless DHL paid millions of euros (dollars).