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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Deadly poison ricin possibly found at Las Vegas motel: reports
2008-02-29
Preliminary tests indicate that a package found at a motel in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Thursday contained the toxin ricin, and seven people have been taken to hospitals, U.S. media reported Friday, quoting authorities. Police were called to the Extended Stay America Motel on Thursday and retrieved a package from the motel manager that was determined to be a chemical or controlled substance, the Associated Press reported, citing Officer Ramone Denby.

It's "100 percent ricin," CNN quoted Capt. Joe Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department as saying. "We don't know who (the ricin) belongs to or why it would be here at this time."

Investigators did not immediately believe the substance was intended for an attack. "This is not a terror incident at this point," Lombardo unsurprizingly reportedly said.

Police cordoned off the area and isolated the room where the substance was found.

Ricin is made from the waste left over from processing castor beans, and can be extremely lethal. As little as 500 micrograms, or about the size of the head of a pin, can kill a human, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Posted by:anonymous5089

#9  TU: Could you provide a link to that article please?

Thx in advance.
Posted by: Col. Bat Guano (ret.)   2008-02-29 17:59  

#8  LAS VEGAS — A man who stayed in a Las Vegas hotel room where ricin was discovered on Thursday has been hospitalized in critical condition since Feb. 14 with symptoms consistent with exposure to the deadly toxin, Las Vegas police said Friday.

The manÂ’s identity, age and hometown were being withheld on Friday as investigators tried to determine why ricin, as well as castor beans from which is it derived, were found in a room at an Extended Stay America hotel one mile west of the Las Vegas Strip.

Deputy Chief Kathleen Suey said the man had been staying in the room where the ricin was found for an unknown length of time and was leasing the room when the substance was discovered. A man, said to be a relative or friend of the sick man, had gone into the room to retrieve the patientÂ’s belongings when he found the vials of white powder and showed it to the hotelÂ’s manager, Deputy Chief Suey said.

Police were called by the hotel. The man had been hospitalized on Feb. 14 with respiratory distress but did not indicate to doctors that he may have been exposed to ricin, so the health district and police were not notified of the prospect, she said. The patient has not yet been questioned and is believed to be unconscious, she said.
Posted by: tu3031   2008-02-29 17:02  

#7  "Testing, testing...."
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2008-02-29 16:53  

#6  "This event does not appear to be terrorism related," FBI spokesman Richard Kolko in Washington said Friday morning.

Less the twenty four hours in and the FBI's already determined that? Damn, they're good.
Enjoy the weekend, Dick...
Posted by: tu3031   2008-02-29 12:53  

#5  Well ... police are saying that the 'small container found in a bag' contains pure ricin. Apparently castor beans were also found in the room.
Posted by: lotp   2008-02-29 09:17  

#4  I think the police captain seems pretty positive it's ricin.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2008-02-29 09:15  

#3  A bag of it?
Posted by: lotp   2008-02-29 09:13  

#2  I suspect that this is a false positive. Ricin has two protein chains. Many plants, such as barley, have one of the two chains, but not the other.

This means what they detected is most likely the barley malt found in dried beer.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2008-02-29 08:42  

#1  Ah, dupe again, but the first one was still in the waiting tank when I posted this.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2008-02-29 08:39  

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