London , England ( CNN ) -- A British man who allegedly sold fake bomb detectors to Iraq and Afghanistan has been arrested on suspicion of fraud , police said . The British government has also imposed an export ban on the device , known as the ADE651 , effective Monday . The handheld device is commonly used at checkpoints in Iraq and Afghanistan to detect explosives . The 53-year-old unidentified suspect , who was arrested Friday , is accused of knowingly selling a product that did n't work , police said . Tests show that the ADE651 , and similar devices , were not suitable for bomb detection , a spokesman for Britain 's Department of Business , Innovation and Skills said in a statement . `` As non-military technology , it does not need an export license , and we would not normally need to monitor its sale and use abroad . However , it is clearly of concern that it is being used as bomb detection equipment , '' the spokesman said . The spokesman said the export ban only applied to Iraq and Afghanistan because its legal powers to control the sale of the product were `` based on the risk that [ the device ] could cause harm to U.K. and other friendly forces . ''
British man arrested on suspicion of fraud concerning fake bomb detectors . British government has imposed export ban on ADE651 after tests showed it was `` not suitable '' for bomb detection . Handheld device is commonly used at checkpoints in Iraq and Afghanistan .