A small quantity of the deadly toxin ricin was found over the weekend during an anti-terrorist sweep in which six men were arrested on suspicion of terrorism, police said Tuesday.
The arrests occurred Sunday morning in houses in north and east London, the police said. The suspects, who are still being questioned by the authorities, are said to include teenagers and people in their 20s and 30s, and to be of North African origin. A woman arrested with the others was released without being charged.
Ricin, made from castor beans, is relatively easy to make and stockpile, according to experts, and has no treatment or vaccine. Pronounced RICE-in, it can be ground and sprayed as an aerosol, added to food or drinks, or injected into a victim–as was done to the Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov, who was fatally injected with a ricin-filled hollow pellet affixed to the end of an umbrella in 1978 as he waited for a bus on Waterloo Bridge.
It is considered an agent for bioterrorism use by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is on the agency’s “B” list, meaning it is relatively easy to disseminate and is deemed a moderate threat.
