FBI Warns of Clandestine Labs Making Toxins

Reuters ^ | 4-2-03

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI warned U.S. law enforcement officials on Wednesday to be on the lookout for clandestine laboratories that can make chemical and biological agents, including highly infectious bacteria and toxins like ricin. In its weekly intelligence bulletin distributed to law enforcement officials across the country, the FBI expanded on last week's bulletin warning to look out for people who may be trying to make improvised chemical weapons.

"Recent events, including the January 2003 arrests in the United Kingdom of Algerian extremists apparently attempting to produce ricin toxin in their residence, indicate an ongoing interest among terrorists in developing improvised weapons of mass destruction," the bulletin said.

British anti-terror police arrested several people in January after finding traces of the deadly toxin ricin.

The FBI bulletin spelled out a number of examples in the United States in the past decade in which individuals and groups have developed crude chemical and biological agents, including a sarin-like nerve gas and the infectious bacteria salmonella.

It said information on how to make some chemical and biological agents is readily available at stores and supply companies and noted that many common household items like infant formula, yeast and sugar can be used in their production.

Using commercially available materials, clandestine laboratories with varying levels of sophistication can produce anything from cyanide compounds to botulism to ricin and salmonella, the bulletin said.

It said they could use agar -- a medium used to grow bacterial cultures that is readily available from laboratory supply firms -- to cultivate and produce highly infectious germs.

"Large numbers of agar plates can be inoculated and harvested by an individual possessing minimal training," it said. "These agar plates could produce sufficient quantities of bacteria to sicken or kill large numbers of people."

The bulletin urged law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for any suspicious activity that could be related to the production of improvised chemical and biological weapons.