RICIN
THE
wing activities. With this exists the potential for domestic terrorism by ‘lone wolves’ – maladjusted individuals who are often non-affi liated but are usually imbued with resentment of certain groups in society and may harbour violent hatred for the majority of their fellow citizens. They are likely to deploy IEDs (improvised explosive devices), fi rearms, carry out arson attacks, or acquire or make easily procured and prepared biotoxins. It is possible we will see a dramatic rise in the most simple, easy-to- make tools of CBRN terrorism. One such tool is ricin. Ricin is a by-product of processing castor beans. It is extracted from the waste (mash) as castor beans undergo the manufacture of castor oil. The toxin produced is lethal at doses of as little as 500 micrograms. It can be used as an aerosol to adversely affect agricultural operations or contaminate buildings and public gathering places. There is the potential for contaminating water and prepared foods as well.
D
LONE WOLF WAITS
uring the current economic recession we are seeing an increase in extremist and die-hard right-
Cheap and deadly Homegrown terrorists and lone-wolf operatives tend to look for the easiest and least expensive ways to conduct their operations. Ricin production is not an uncommon means for small fringe groups or individuals since castor beans are easily obtained and processed. However, and for whatever reason, ricin attacks are not nearly as prevalent as are bombing, assassinations and arson. It has been suggested that the ease and simplicity of using fi rearms and IEDs to create the desired effect has more appeal than the manufacture of a biotoxin. We must remember that the more instant and visually disturbing devastation a terrorist is capable of producing, the wider the news media coverage and potential for mass panic and hysteria becomes. Ricin simply does not carry enough psychological impact as evidence shows only scant use over the past decade and a half. It has been used mainly for assassination, as notoriously exemplifi ed by the killing in 1978 of a Bulgarian dissident, Georgi Markov, in London by a ricin pellet fi red from a spring-loaded umbrella. The current potential for use, however, still looms in the shadows. There has been dramatic growth and expansion among right-wing groups in the past few years, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Historical reports
LTC Steve Lelbach casts a cold eye over ricin – the cheap and easy option for a range of malcontents with extremist agendas – and the open-source means to carry them through
generated by the SPLC clearly support and demonstrate rapid exponential growth among extremist groups that set new record levels in 2011. The growth according to these reports is attributed to the dynamic expansion of the Patriot Movement within the United States. Similar major reports are available about the rise of right-wing parties and fringe groups in Europe. The atrocities committed by the Norwegian lone-wolf Anders Behring Breivik has been a stark reminder of this growing threat. There has been an increase in trials of extremists attempting to use ricin, including the conviction of a father and son in Newcastle in 2010 for manufacturing enough ricin to kill nine people. They were aligned to an extreme right-wing group.
A bigger bang for the buck It is with this type of growth and expansion that the potential for an increase in the use of biotoxins, bacterial or toxic agents may begin to appeal to such individuals. They will begin looking for a number of ways to spread their message of government and racial discontent. The Internet and social networking sites provide them with the ultimate modern mass-communication tools and information sources for both the manufacture of biotoxins and the dissemination of information about their deployment. Therefore, with more groups on the rise we cannot discount the
Castor bean plant 64 | CHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL & NUCLEAR WARFARE | 2012/02
There is no antidote for ricin poisoning
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