Critical Times

German police are compiling a database of human scents to track down possible violent protesters at the Group of Eight (G8) summit in June.

The method, once used by East Germany’s Stasi secret police, involves collecting scent samples in advance from selected targets.

The scents are then passed to police equipped with sniffer dogs, who can pick the individuals out from a crowd.

Germany is keen to avoid the unrest associated with previous G8 summits.

A spokesman for Federal prosecutors confirmed that samples of smell were gathered from five suspects who were detained during recent police raids.

It is understood the suspects were made to hold metal pipes in their hands and the samples of smell were kept by police.

Investigators using sniffer dogs were able to compare the scent samples with traces left at the scene of more than a dozen arson attacks which are believed to be linked to anti-globalisation activists.