RECOGNIZE the Potential for Chemical Terrorism Using Cyanide
Cyanide is a potential terrorist weapon 4,15,19
- Is plentiful and easy to obtain, buy, or steal and can exist as a gas, liquid, or white crystal powder4,15
- Does not require special knowledge for use4,15
- Can cause mass confusion, panic, and social disruption4
- Requires large quantities of specific resources to combat4,15
- Listed as a probable terrorist weapon by the US government 15,16,20
Cyanide has a history of intended use as a terrorist weapon
2006
- Police, searching for a cyanide bomb believed to be located somewhere in London after a raid in June, killed a man suspected of having terrorist alliances21
2003
- Texas fringe group apprehended with sodium cyanide bomb22
- Government warning issued that Al-Qaeda had developed a device for producing and dispersing hydrogen cyanide gas through ventilation systems15
- Reports that terrorists had planned to release cyanide gas into the New York City subway23
- A suspected terrorist was apprehended in Sydney, Australia, on charges of planning a terrorist attack. He was caught in possession of instructions to make cyanide gas, had downloaded bomb-making instructions, and had ordered chemicals used in explosives24
2002
- Italian police arrested 4 Moroccan nationals, who planned to pour a cyanide compound into water pipes that led to the American Embassy15
- UK government took custody of 3 men for an alleged plot to release poisonous gas into London Underground. Because of their links to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network - Cyanide may have been involved25,28
1995
- Authorities foiled another attempted poison gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, this one involving cyanide gas in one of the city's busiest subway stations26
1993
- Terrorists involved in the World Trade Center attack had large quantities of cyanide in their possession27
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