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Authorities Go Public With Threat Aimed At America's Cup (cyanide)
wral ^ | 2/25/03

Posted on 02/25/2003 2:17:56 PM PST by knak

Edited on 04/13/2004 2:55:49 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Anti-terror police say there's been a threat made against the America's Cup sailing competition.

They went public after postal workers in New Zealand seized letters containing cyanide crystals and white powder.

The letters were addressed to the U.S. Embassy and British and Australian High Commissions in the capital, Wellington.


(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: americascup; chemicalattacks; cyanide; newzealand

1 posted on 02/25/2003 2:17:56 PM PST by knak
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To: knak; mhking; hchutch; Dog Gone; Shermy; Grampa Dave; nicmarlo
How easy is it to get cyanide crystals ??
2 posted on 02/25/2003 2:20:59 PM PST by Dog (Life , Liberty and the pursuit of those who threaten it...)
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To: Endeavor
America's Cup Ping
3 posted on 02/25/2003 2:26:29 PM PST by Hillary's Lovely Legs (I miss the comic genius of Paul Lynde)
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To: Dog; shaggy eel
Front page New Zealand Hearald:
Cyanide letter threat to Cup

Check out the spin here:
'Lone wolf' likely terror suspect

4 posted on 02/25/2003 2:31:46 PM PST by Shermy
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To: Shermy; hchutch; mhking; Grampa Dave; nicmarlo
Look at what I found ....a terror attack thwarted against Tiger Woods..

The threat against Woods was made in a cyanide-laced letter sent to the United States Embassy in January last year.

It was later revealed in Parliament that the letter contained enough cyanide to kill up to 15 people if ingested, and 100 people if converted to a gas.

More than $1 million was spent on security at the Open to thwart any possible attack. Police then also raised the risk of contaminated food, warning people to take care around food and drink sources and to ensure packaging and seals were intact

5 posted on 02/25/2003 2:37:56 PM PST by Dog (Life , Liberty and the pursuit of those who threaten it...)
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To: knak
There aren't any Americans competing in the upcoming America's Cup race. It's New Zealand versus New Zealand, sort of. I think the Swiss team is made up of the old New Zealand team. That's led some local New Zealanders to make threats against the "traitors."
6 posted on 02/25/2003 2:43:22 PM PST by jlogajan
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To: Dog
Once again I am reminded of the ("Dry Run")Anthrax Letters.
7 posted on 02/25/2003 2:45:19 PM PST by Delmarksman (No such thing as an "Accidental Discharge")
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To: knak
that could really hurt you....if you eat your mail.
8 posted on 02/25/2003 2:52:06 PM PST by galt-jw
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To: jlogajan
With the home tean from NZ down 3-0, they probably don't want the races to finish.
9 posted on 02/25/2003 2:54:19 PM PST by JonH
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To: Dog
Doesn't look like it's too difficult (go down about 10 paragraphs to find the quote below):

Horsley: Today's kids don't even know what a crawdad is


By David Horsley

One thing I needed was cyanide crystals. The book said "your neighborhood druggist" could supply cyanide crystals. I went to my druggist and asked for the deadly crystals.

"No way," he said.

I went to a different druggist, then another, until someone gave me the cyanide.

At home with the cyanide, I mixed some plaster of Paris like the book said.

10 posted on 02/25/2003 2:57:49 PM PST by nicmarlo
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To: Shermy
BUMP:

The cyanide threat is likely to have been made by a single person who fits "lone wolf" criteria, says terrorism expert Paul Buchanan, a former United States Defence Department analyst who lectures at Auckland University.

These are individuals often associated with the extremist right wing.

Yeah. That Unabomber was some kind right wing kook.

Another former worker under the Clintoon administration?

11 posted on 02/25/2003 2:59:53 PM PST by weegee
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To: weegee
Later this same expert identifies possible motivations:

"What you could probably say is it could be any number of disgruntled New Zealanders with access to cyanide - and now we're talking tens of thousands of people - who has decided to up the ante out of solidarity with Saddam or just out of opposition to the war."

Yep. That's the right wing position on this issue. < /sarcasm >

12 posted on 02/25/2003 3:02:01 PM PST by weegee
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To: Dog
Here's a FAQ sheet:

ToxFAQsTM for Cyanide

13 posted on 02/25/2003 3:06:13 PM PST by nicmarlo
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To: Dog
here's an MSDS sheet on potassium cyanide (I don't know what kind of cyanide that is in comparison to the cyanide crystals mentioned in the article):

MSDS potassium cyanide

14 posted on 02/25/2003 3:11:10 PM PST by nicmarlo
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To: Dog
Here's an article I found on cyanide crystals, dated October 2001:

CYANIDE THREAT: Tapes reveal poison plan

by John Follain and Nicholas Rufford

.......One theory is that the group planned to spread the poison in an American government building in London or Rome. A witness who trained in one of Bin Laden's camps said he was instructed how to put cyanide in a building's ventilation system.

The tins of tomatoes could have been used to transport cyanide crystals before they were dissolved into a liquid, which could then be dispersed through the ventilation ducts. If large quantities were available, the vapour produced could kill many occupants of a building within 10 minutes.

[snip]

15 posted on 02/25/2003 3:23:52 PM PST by nicmarlo
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To: knak
Alright, now this is going TOO FAR!!!
16 posted on 02/25/2003 3:24:54 PM PST by tet68 (Jeremiah 51:24 ..."..Before your eyes I will repay Babylon for all the wrong they have done in Zion")
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To: weegee
Yeah. That Unabomber was some kind right wing kook.

So are the ecological terrorists who torched Vail a couple of years ago...

17 posted on 02/25/2003 3:39:10 PM PST by white trash redneck
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To: nicmarlo
Horsley: Today's kids don't even know what a crawdad is

Hell, why not put the bugs in an empty "killing jar" and then put the jar in the freezer for a while? No need for a table top gas chamber!

Entertaining link, however. Sure shows how safety obsessed we've become.

18 posted on 02/25/2003 3:56:27 PM PST by cynwoody
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To: cynwoody
Entertaining link,

lol, I thought so, too....there was link I could have posted, just as humorous and again, about the safety issue. And I had the same idea about the "olden days" as pertains to child abuse....I was doing research on the subject today for a case at work.....my how the laws have changed about that subject (and not all for the better).

19 posted on 02/25/2003 4:06:59 PM PST by nicmarlo
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To: Shermy
,,, great PR tactic [LOL].
20 posted on 02/25/2003 7:42:54 PM PST by shaggy eel
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