Police in Germany have raided the home of a teenage boy suspected of making and storing ricin, a highly toxic and deadly biological warfare agent.
The 16-year-old is accused of producing “several vials” containing a mixture of ricin and aconitine, another potent plant toxin, in a makeshift laboratory in the attic of his family home in Zeithain, a municipality in the eastern state of Saxony, police said.
The Saxony State Criminal Police Office has launched an investigation in conjunction with the Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office into the possible violation of Germany’s Weapons of War Act, which regulates the production and trade of materials considered weapons of war.
Officers have been searching the suspect’s home since the early hours of Thursday morning, according to the Saxony police statement. They are seeking to “secure all toxic substances and other evidence,” the statement said.
Investigators have so far not uncovered any evidence regarding the suspect’s intentions for the toxic substance, police said.
An arrest warrant has not been issued. Based on the current status of the investigation, there are no grounds for detention under Germany’s Code of Criminal procedure, particularly considering the Juvenile Justice Act, the statement said.
Ricin is a natural, highly toxic compound that is a byproduct of processing castor beans. It is potentially lethal when inhaled, ingested or injected. Less than a pinpoint of ricin can kill a person within 36 to 48 hours due to the failure of the respiratory and circulatory systems.
If ingested, it causes nausea, vomiting and internal bleeding of the stomach and intestines, followed by failure of the liver, spleen and kidneys, and finally death by collapse of the circulatory system.
If injected, ricin causes the immediate death of the muscles and lymph nodes near the site of the injection. Failure of major organs and death usually follows.