A 32-year-old Iranian was arrested in western Germany on suspicion of preparing an “Islamic” attack using cyanide and ricin, according to the police and the Düsseldorf prosecutor’s office.
His residence in Kastrup-Rauxel (North Rhine-Westphalia) was raided in search of possible “toxic materials” intended to carry out an attack, according to a statement from the public prosecutor’s office and the Münster police.
The investigators pointed out that the Iranian “is suspected of preparing an act of serious violence that threatens state security by supplying him with cyanide and ricin with the aim of committing an attack of an Islamic nature,” adding that another person was arrested during the operation, according to “Agence France Presse.”
Cyanide, also known as “hydrocyanic acid”, is a “highly toxic” lethal, fast-acting agent that inhibits aerobic respiration at the cellular level, preventing them from using oxygen, according to “Cyanide”.World Health Organization“.
Hydrogen cyanide is a “highly toxic asphyxiating gas that impairs the body’s ability to use oxygen” and can “kill quickly”.
As for ricin, it is a “poison” that can be made from the wastes of castor bean processing, and can be used as a biological weapon, as it can turn into aerosols in the air and be inhaled, and it can be ingested, whether through poisoned food or water sources contaminated with it or injected with it, according to the website. “mayo clinic.
The prosecution stated that the main suspect is supposed to appear in the coming days before the investigating judge.
According to the daily newspaper “Bild”, the German authorities received a few days ago a warning from a foreign intelligence agency about the threat of a “chemical bomb” attack.
Germany has been subjected to several attacks in recent years, including a truck attack on a Christmas market in December 2016 that left 13 dead, according to “Agence France Presse”.