It isn’t such a great time to be a guest at a slightly-off-the-strip hotel in Vegas right now, is it?
A substance found at a motel may be the deadly toxin ricin, but authorities said Friday they don’t believe it was intended for a terrorist attack. Lab tests on the substance were pending and seven people were taken to hospitals as a precaution.
“This event does not appear to be terrorism related,” FBI spokesman Richard Kolko in Washington said Friday morning. Kolko said the FBI was assisting local police in the investigation.
That aside, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security are still involved in investigating the find. But really, that makes sense for this oddity – I just find it humorous that it’s already being said that authorities don’t believe it is related to terrorism, but the DHS is involved in investigating it.
And if you aren’t familiar with just why a box of ricin is a big deal:
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 CDC.
Nasty stuff. Quick, deadly in small quantities, and I’m guessing easy to keep out of sight.
[tags]Ricin, Las Vegas, FBI, DHS[/tags]