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Deadly Poison Found, Suspects Seized in London
Aired January 07, 2003 - 14:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Scotland Yard questioned six terror suspects, and British health services are on full alert. London police have found a small amount of deadly poison where one of the six men lived.
Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is live from London -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, police are still outside the house in north London in an area called Wood Green, where the material that contained ricin was found in the early-morning raid Sunday morning.
Now, police are giving very few details about the people they've arrested. They say that they arrested seven people early Sunday morning. One of them was a woman. She has been released. The six others, they say, are all of North African origin. They say their ages are in their teens, in their 20s and in their 30s. However, they're not saying what nationality they are. They're not saying which organization they believe they might be with.
However, the significant points here are that they were arrested by antiterrorist police, that the antiterrorist police were led to the address in north London and another address in east London by an intelligence tip-off given to British Security Services.
We also know that the British Health Department has been involved in this operation as well. They have given information to British hospitals and to doctors, general practitioners, warning them about the symptoms that ricin poisoning may exhibit. Ricin is a deadly toxin, they say. It can kill in 36 to 48 hours. Symptoms such as shortness of breath, vomiting and diarrhea can occur within the first 12 hours, and that doctors have been told to be aware of that.
Also, the British police are telling people in Britain to be alert, to be particularly vigilant in public places.
So, this particular incident, although it happened in the early hours of Sunday morning, it has been made public now by the British police with the discovery that ricin was present. It's being taken very, very seriously here at this time -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And can you tell us more about ricin, where it comes from? And also if indeed -- you know, we've been talking about the antiterrorist branch that arrested these individuals. Do we know if there's been a connection to any specific cell? ROBERTSON: They haven't said so far. The police here, the antiterrorist police haven't connected these individuals publicly yet to any cell. They can hold these people for another five days before they have to charge them.
Ricin is a deadly toxin. It is made from the castor bean. The castor bean itself, we are told, is very, very safe indeed. If one were to swallow a castor seed and the surface of that seed wasn't damaged, then one would survive. But experts say to extract ricin from the castor bean is a very simple process. A small amount as a pinhead, 320 milligrams, we are told, is the lethal dose. That's enough to kill someone. There is no known cure, and it can lead to death within 36 to 48 hours.
The problem for terrorists, according to experts we've talked to, is the dispersal system for something like ricin. In the past in the United Kingdom, there is only one account of ricin poisoning being used to target an individual. A Bulgarian was killed by being injected with ricin in 1978. How a terrorist organization would disperse it on a wider scale, that would be a problem for them.
PHILLIPS: Live from London, Nic Robertson -- thanks, Nic.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired January 7, 2003 - 14:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Scotland Yard questioned six terror suspects, and British health services are on full alert. London police have found a small amount of deadly poison where one of the six men lived.
Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is live from London -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, police are still outside the house in north London in an area called Wood Green, where the material that contained ricin was found in the early-morning raid Sunday morning.
Now, police are giving very few details about the people they've arrested. They say that they arrested seven people early Sunday morning. One of them was a woman. She has been released. The six others, they say, are all of North African origin. They say their ages are in their teens, in their 20s and in their 30s. However, they're not saying what nationality they are. They're not saying which organization they believe they might be with.
However, the significant points here are that they were arrested by antiterrorist police, that the antiterrorist police were led to the address in north London and another address in east London by an intelligence tip-off given to British Security Services.
We also know that the British Health Department has been involved in this operation as well. They have given information to British hospitals and to doctors, general practitioners, warning them about the symptoms that ricin poisoning may exhibit. Ricin is a deadly toxin, they say. It can kill in 36 to 48 hours. Symptoms such as shortness of breath, vomiting and diarrhea can occur within the first 12 hours, and that doctors have been told to be aware of that.
Also, the British police are telling people in Britain to be alert, to be particularly vigilant in public places.
So, this particular incident, although it happened in the early hours of Sunday morning, it has been made public now by the British police with the discovery that ricin was present. It's being taken very, very seriously here at this time -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And can you tell us more about ricin, where it comes from? And also if indeed -- you know, we've been talking about the antiterrorist branch that arrested these individuals. Do we know if there's been a connection to any specific cell? ROBERTSON: They haven't said so far. The police here, the antiterrorist police haven't connected these individuals publicly yet to any cell. They can hold these people for another five days before they have to charge them.
Ricin is a deadly toxin. It is made from the castor bean. The castor bean itself, we are told, is very, very safe indeed. If one were to swallow a castor seed and the surface of that seed wasn't damaged, then one would survive. But experts say to extract ricin from the castor bean is a very simple process. A small amount as a pinhead, 320 milligrams, we are told, is the lethal dose. That's enough to kill someone. There is no known cure, and it can lead to death within 36 to 48 hours.
The problem for terrorists, according to experts we've talked to, is the dispersal system for something like ricin. In the past in the United Kingdom, there is only one account of ricin poisoning being used to target an individual. A Bulgarian was killed by being injected with ricin in 1978. How a terrorist organization would disperse it on a wider scale, that would be a problem for them.
PHILLIPS: Live from London, Nic Robertson -- thanks, Nic.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
