Police in Germany have raided the home of a teenage boy suspected of making and storing ricin, a highly toxic and deadly biological warfare agent.
The 16-year-old is accused of producing “several vials” containing a mixture of ricin and aconitine, another potent plant toxin, in a makeshift laboratory in the attic of his family home in Zeithain, a municipality in the eastern state of Saxony, police told CNN.
The Saxony State Criminal Police Office has launched an investigation in conjunction with the Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office into the possible violation of Germany’s Weapons of War Act, which regulates the production and trade of materials considered weapons of war.
Investigators have so far not uncovered any evidence regarding the suspect’s intentions for the toxic substance, police said.
