Posted on 02/29/2008 3:14:39 AM PST by maquiladora
LAS VEGAS (AP) Preliminary tests indicate that a package found at a motel contained the toxin ricin, and seven people have been taken to hospitals, authorities said.
Police were called to the Extended Stay America Motel on Thursday and retrieved a package from the motel manager that was determined to be a chemical or controlled substance, Officer Ramone Denby said.
Two preliminary tests indicate it contained ricin, he said. Results from further tests by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a second local lab are expected Friday, police said.
Homeland Security officials joined local police in the investigation. Officials from the FBI, Las Vegas Health District, a hazardous materials team and the National Guard were also at the scene.
Officers cordoned off the area and isolated the room where the substance was found.
Three motel employees and another person were quarantined and decontaminated at the site, then taken to hospitals for further testing, Denby said. All appeared to be in good condition, he said. Three police officers who had been exposed were also taken to hospitals.
It takes between six and eight hours for someone exposed to ricin to show signs of contamination, Denby said.
A woman who answered the phone at the motel declined comment.
Ricin is made from the waste left over from processing castor beans, and can be extremely lethal. As little as 500 micrograms, or about the size of the head of a pin, can kill a human, according to the CDC.
I have already stated those things (though not in as technical of terms as you did). That’s my point though, anything found in a hotel room is almost guaranteed to NOT be for medical purposes. We don’t have ALL the details, but the chemical was said to be found in powdered form in a “vial” and there were (I’m quoting a Fox reporter now) “castor beans in a plastic bag”.
That tells me there is NO possibility this was a “medical” derivative of the chemical, which explains my first comment. My first comment about it having no other use but killing people was based on that knowledge I already had about the subject.
I don’t understand why people make the quick and rash assumption that people make comments but are misinformed (I know I make the same assumptions at times, but I’m one of those folks who doesn’t go off making comments without being informed).
Thanks
“what happened next? that couldnt have been the end of it...surely someone forced him to comply?”
The Southwest Airlines flight attendants never noticed the man had not turned off his cell, nor buckled his seatbelt and it was obvious that he had his cell up to his ear and was speaking into it.
It was strange, because he spoke to us in perfect English, when we asked if he knew why the flight was delayed. We assumed he was a Westerner and didn’t think that he was Middle Eastern. But then we overheard him speaking into his cell phone in Arabic.
I was at a gun show where someone claimed to have ricin for sale, 500 mg vials.
gee, was he a DNA researcher, ya think?
Ricin pops up in the news fairly often, probably because it’s so available.
I’m going to reiterate this.
1) The hotel is an “extended stay place”. That means (and sorry I’m not familair with that area) that in MOST cases it’s a “low rent, week-at-a-time” place and the people staying there are A) hiding out, B) don’t have money, or C) simply passing through for a few days.. drifters in some cases. Usually those hotel rooms have kitchens.
2) Ricin itself is cooked up out of castor beans. They are commonly grown around some homes as a decorative plant. The seeds, bark and leaves all are toxic to some extent. The chemical ricin is generally cooked out of them. Ricin DOES have some medical uses in cancer research and castor oil is used as a laxative etc. HOWEVER, the ricin POWDER cooked out of the beans is a deadly, natural poison and one of the MOST poisonous chemicals that occurs naturally. Hence my original statement that “Ricin has NO use but to kill people”. If ricin is cooked out of the beans/seed pods into a powder form, it is NOT for medical use, PERIOD and anyone that SAYS so is LYING or SEVERELY MISINFORMED.
3) Chemicals to poison water supplies would have to be in great amounts. Unless someone were able to get it specifically into the supply of say, a building, or aerosolize the chemical and place it into an air handling system. You could kill everyone in a building doing this.
4) IF there are three rooms affected, that someone needed all three rooms, that means there was more than one person, so several PERSONS were involved. LOGICALLY one would assume two things - someone is trying to kill one of the others ‘involved’ or they all were aware of the production of the ricin. Which brings me to the last point.
5) Multiple people (which I am assuming of course) involved in staying in a low-key hotel (fact), perhaps “hiding” (guessing), producing deadly chemicals (fact) in the room (guess) could certainly lead one to think “terrorism” (unconfirmed at this time).
So, anyone that wants to question MY thinking on this (like I was questioned yesterday when someone ELSE added the tag terrorism to an article and then he responded with a rude remark when I defended the idea of terrorism) can just go do their own research.
I don’t make such remarks lightly, and when I do, I’m not usually assuming a LOT, but it is a KNOWN FACT the media, and “authorities” keep saying INSTANTLY “No connection to terrorism at this time” or “No known connection” etc.
That is simply their way of trying not to panic the “sheep”.
Give me a break. Americans are mature adults (those who pay attention are anyway) and damn it, if you have evidence of terrorism, COUGH IT UP so the folks can HELP your lying asses get out of it Mr./Ms. “Authorities”. We’re ALL in THIS TOGETHER.
They all do. Whether it's the FBI telling them to keep mum about something or their producers telling them what to report or not report about an election campaign.
They are employees of the network. And they do what they are told.
LOL.....writer’s striker over too late for the CSI Team to figure this one out!
The fatigue the bug caused was one of the worst symptoms. I had it from start to end for over a month. My chest got so tight I had to get an inhaler.
I suppose it’s influenza, since they now acknowlege the flu shot wasn’t very effective.
I’m not aware it is illegal to sell ricin, though I can’t for the life of me imagine WHY unless you’re going to poison rats....
I have doubts about him being a DNA researcher. lol - besides in my checking today, and in the past about ricin, I haven’t seen much about DNA research, only cancer research. lol
Yes, it is very true about its availability. Truth is, even *I* know how to MAKE it, never have, have no reason, never will... but the fact is ANYONE can by plants and plant them in their yard. We used to have them growing around my granny’s house in Kentucky. My mother kept some plants on the porch and if I am NOT mistaken, even my wife at one time grew some at one of our homes.
“Ray”, “Wayne” and “Mohammad”
LOLOL!
Hope all is well with your and your family, but I would certainly see your physician for a check up and he can report it to the CDC if there is anything wrong. Also SW Airlines should be able to cop the guy for HLS.
Las Vegas, if my memory is correct, was always a major target after 9/11.
Wonder who the room was registered to and if the motel had any security cameras.
BRAVO!!
Please keep us posted on any more of your thoughts or finds.
There are many freepers that appreciate people like you on these threads and that also think the same way!
There are no med uses for ricin. There are research uses, and although the research can be for med applications, it's use is always in the lab. There's no legitimate reason for a lab guy to be transporting only ricin and the beans themselves and staying in an extended stay motel. Yes, the beans were found in the room also. The place must have a valid name cc# that was used for the stay., so they have an ID on the perp.
Not sure they had a “valid” name on the cc—just one that didn’t alert anyone. It’s not that difficult to set up a false id, get credit cards, etc.—it’s done by illegal aliens and others all the time. As long as they make payments on the cc’s, it wouldn’t alert anyone.
I appreciate your post. I cannot say more than that.
Actually, there was an episode of CSI where a woman working in the Las Vegas historical library attempted to kill her boss by putting ricin in his salt shaker, but she instead succeeding in killing herself because she kept chewing on her pen, and she had accidently gotten some ricin on the pen.
So, I guess the CSI writers actually trumped real life. Creepy:-) ...and yes, I am a CSI nerd.
It is very difficult for them to do that with ccs. The credit bureaus and cc cos. will note problems.
“That is simply their way of trying not to panic the sheep.”
I’m betting on more of the same...News Conference at 2pm per FOX
Thank You for the info....
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